Waiting for the Real Thing
by Alice Dodgson
Summary: Hermione dated Ron during 6th year, but the following summer he broke her heart. Now that she's back at Hogwarts and struggling just to keep up with her studies, she's found comfort and happiness in someone she never expected. Hermione-Ginny femmeslash. Mostly from Hermione's and Ginny's points-of-view, but also at times from Harry's and even Ron's POV.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the characters from _Harry Potter_. I'm making no money off this story and no copyright infringement is intended.

**Author's Note:** This was my first fanfic story, and after leaving it unfinished for several years, I've decided to go back to it and completely change the direction in which it was originally headed. It's going to be Hermione/Ginny, so read no further if femmeslash and same-sex pairings aren't your thing.

**Chapter One**

"Just because I've been hurt doesn't mean I'm going to be bitter."

The fact that Hermione spoke these words in the bitterest of tones did nothing to persuade Harry. The two friends were sitting at a table in the corner of The Three Broomsticks one weekend at the start of their seventh year. Harry put his steady hand on top of Hermione's shaking one, and said quietly,

"Look, Hermione, everyone can tell you're still angry at Ron. And no one blames you. What he did to you over the summer wasn't exactly...er...gentlemanly. So I understand why you wouldn't want to be friends with him again right away."

"I _have_ to be friends with him again! Don't you see, Harry? While I've been at Hogwarts, it's _always_ been you and Ron. I can't give that up, even if Ron treated me like I was worth nothing at the end of our relationship. It was a mistake to date him, but I'm not letting that ruin a seven year friendship."

"I didn't say you shouldn't be friends with him ever again," Harry said gently. "I just said you didn't have to immediately. These things take time. What I'm trying to say, Hermione, is that it's okay for you to stay pissed off at Ron for now, if that's how you really feel. There's no point in pretending everything's all forgiven and forgotten when you're obviously still hurt. It doesn't help your chances of patching things up with Ron, and it sure as hell doesn't do you any good."

Hermione stared into the bespectacled eyes of her friend, and her own eyes poured out tears of gratitude. "Oh, Harry, you're so great...and so loyal. I can never thank you enough for being there for me..." Harry enveloped her into a swift hug before she could burst into tears.

"C'mon," he said, "let me get you another butterbeer. Getting a little bit tipsy usually makes me feel better."

* * *

What really made Hermione feel better was to totally immerse herself into a warm bath. That night in the bathroom of the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dorm, she drew the water just high enough so that when she slipped in and lowered herself down, the water covered her ears and she could see and breathe but not hear. It was comforting to have all sound muted and distorted; perhaps it was a regression back to that forgotten time in her mother's womb. Whatever it was, she could lay there for hours, listening to nothing but the persistent sound of her own thoughts.

Of course, all her thoughts these days dragged her against her will to Ron and how he'd treated her at the end of their relationship.

Everyone, it seemed, had been delighted when she and Ron had gotten together during the winter holidays in their sixth year. As they later found out, their friends had long ago noticed their flirtations and thought that they would be "the cutest couple," despite their constant bickering. And, for a while, they were. Ron took her on picnics, bought her myriads of candies from Honeyduke's out of his own meager pocket, and used his best magic to do romantic things for her - such as enchant a piano to play her favorite piece, Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata." Hermione and Ron could always be seen stealing kisses in the halls of Hogwarts, and holding hands as they walked the streets of Hogsmeade on weekends. Their relationship could not appear to be any more adorable.

But after about six months, all of the adorableness wore off. Ron, for no reason that Hermione could figure out, stopped writing to her almost completely over the summer. Hermione sent numerous owls to Ron inviting him and his family over to dinner at her parents' house in London:

_Please say you'll come. It'll be so much fun, Ron. I always love spending time with your family - there's not a single one of them I don't like. Your dad could ask my parents all he ever wanted to know about Muggles. And most of all, I just want to see __**you**__, Ron. I miss you. Please respond soon. Yours, Hermione._

It wouldn't be until nearly two weeks later that Ron would send Errol or Pig to give Hermione a very brief and terse reply, such as:

_Herm, sorry, can't do the dinner thing. Maybe another time? Talk to you later, R._

"Herm," Hermione said, her voice and the hand that held the letter both shaking. "_Herm._ He couldn't even be bothered to write my whole name."

She was furious, but most of all she was bewildered over how her once doting boyfriend could suddenly become so distant. Her confusion and agony continued until Ron finally broke up with her in late August, shortly before school started again. Hermione, fed up with Ron's behavior, owled him a note that said:

_Ron, we need to talk._ _If you don't send a reply, I will apparate to the Burrow and confront you myself. I'm not waiting around for you anymore._

The next day, to her complete shock, Ron apparated to her front door and rang the bell. It was the first time he had come to see her in almost two months, but Hermione knew immediately that he was doing it not to enjoy the pleasure of her company but to break her heart. She struggled to stay calm as he finally explained awkwardly, "I-I just want to be your friend, Hermione. My feelings for you changed over the summer, I don't know why."

Hermione, not wanting to let Ron see her weep, finally cried out, "_Leave_, Ron! Just _leave me alone!_" And so he did what he'd been doing all summer long: he left her alone. Once he disapparated back to the Burrow - back to the lovely home and wonderful family she'd dreamed that she might someday be a part of - she locked herself in her bedroom and stayed in there for hours. She only came out when her parents heard her crying, and knocked on her door to ask worriedly what was wrong.

Breaking up was difficult; the aftermath was just as hard. For the next several days before she went back to Hogwarts, she moped about her parents' house like a zombie, too depressed to even read her books anymore, and dreading facing Ron again. However, since she knew that she had no choice but to see him eventually, she tried her best to be strong. Not wanting to put Harry in the middle of what was going on between her and Ron, she joined them both in Diagon Alley to buy school supplies, as always. When she was forced to sit in the prefects' compartment on the Hogwarts Express with Ron, she stared out the window during the entire train ride, saying little. That was awkward, as was the experience of having the rest of their friends and acquaintances find out that the Perfect Couple was no more, because apparently she wasn't perfect enough.

He no longer wanted her...suddenly being loved, and then just as quickly cast aside, left Hermione with an emptiness that had never ached in her before. Ron had been only the second person to be attracted to her in that way (if her brief, chaste fling with Viktor Krum even counted), and now his attraction was inexplicably gone. Even he couldn't give her a reason for why his feelings had changed. How did she know, she now wondered, that any future relationship of hers wouldn't turn out just as fickle? Could she have love without it being taken away from her the way a pickpocket nicks a ring off an unsuspecting person's finger?

Hermione suddenly bolted upright in the bathtub as a sound rang out that was loud enough for her to hear through the water she'd submerged herself in. Someone was pounding on the bathroom door.

"Granger, hurry up! You've been in there almost half an hour."

"Yeah, you're not the only one who uses this bathroom."

The voices belonged to her roommates, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil respectively. Hermione sighed and called out, "Just a minute!" She made up her mind just then that she would start using the prefect's bathroom, even though she'd initially thought that the idea of the prefects having their own bathroom promoted inequality among the students. Suddenly this principle was less important than her getting the privacy she so desperately needed.

She quickly stepped out of the bathtub and onto the soft mat that covered the cold stone floor. As she grabbed her bathrobe, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. There she stood, a nearly eighteen year old girl, naked of both clothing and pretensions - wanting nothing more than for some kindred soul to see her for who she was, to want her, to love her, and not change their mind. It would be worth waiting for the real thing, she decided. She just didn't know how long she could endure the pain and loneliness that waiting brought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"I'm worried that I'm still hurting Hermione," Ron said to Harry as they sat one morning at breakfast in the Great Hall, a few weeks after the start of the term.

"I think she's doing alright, considering all that she's been going through," Harry replied. "And if you're afraid that you're still hurting her, then you should talk to her."

"I can't, what will I say? For awhile she acted as though she was starting to forgive me, but now she just ignores me. Her eyes shoot daggers at me whenever I so much as look her way." Ron stared forlornly down the Gryffindor table toward where, a few seats down, Hermione was talking to Neville. "I know you think I'm a great bloody git, Harry, for what I did to her."

Harry didn't quite know what to say to this. Part of him _was_ angry at Ron because he was protective of Hermione, and he couldn't understand why Ron had acted the way he did. But he was still reluctant to choose sides. Like Hermione, he couldn't imagine being at Hogwarts without his two best friends, and he hated feeling caught in the middle between them. But that's where he had to stay, if he wanted to remain loyal to them both.

"Have you told her about you and Lavender yet?" Harry asked, trying to casually change the subject. Ron's head shamefully drooped like a wilting flower.

"No. I figured I'd let her find out on her own...since almost everyone knows already..."

"_What?_" Harry exclaimed incredulously. "Ron, just passively sitting around and letting her find out through other people won't make her want to be friends with you again! You have to tell her - you owe her at least that much. When someone finally tells her that you're going out with Lavender Brown, she's not going to be happy that you kept that from her."

"All right, all right, I'll tell her!" Ron cried. "I just want everyone to stop being so mad at me."

"Here's your chance. C'mon, Ron, go over there." Harry pushed Ron in Hermione's direction.

Very timidly, Ron made his way over to the end of the table where Hermione and Neville were sitting. She seemed to be helping him with some homework. Ron coughed a little as he searched through the chaos in his mind for the right words. But to his surprise, it was Hermione who spoke first.

"Will you stop that obnoxious coughing? You sound like Dolores Umbridge."

"S-sorry," Ron stammered. Normally he would have resented Hermione's comparison of him to that toad-like woman from their fifth year, but he didn't dare argue with her now. "Hermione, can we talk?"

"If you mean right now, I'm clearly busy. I'm helping Neville with his Potions essay." Her tone was as curt as Ron's summer letters had been. She didn't even look up at him, but kept her head bent over the roll of parchment in front of her. "Snape's class is in just a couple of hours, and this is the only time I have to look over it."

Ron nodded. "I'll just talk to you later, then..."

"Uh, actually, that's okay," Neville interrupted. "You've given me so much help on my essay already, Hermione - thanks. I think I'll just ask Harry to look over the rest of it." He grabbed his essay, slid off his seat, and was gone. Ron sat down in front of Hermione where Neville had been.

"So..." he began nervously.

"I really hope you're going to make this worth my time, Ron. You've wasted so much of it already." As soon as Hermione spoke those words, guilt rose in her compassionate heart. She wasn't used to talking to anyone that way, least of all someone who had been her best friend. But at the same time, she could not deny that the sourness in her speech was a reflection of her true feelings. And after her talk with Harry, she refused to hold back any longer.

Ron, too, seemed to have an emotional release just then. Forgetting what he was going to tell her about Lavender Brown, he cried, "Hermione, I'm sorry. I know I probably haven't said it enough, but I really am sorry. I wish I could undo what I did to you. I miss being friends with you so much."

"I miss it too," Hermione said quietly, sounding more sad than angry now. "I don't like this wall that's grown between us, I really don't. But is it even possible for our friendship to go back to how it was? I could get past the fact that you weren't always a great boyfriend, but let's face it - you weren't even a good friend to me this summer." Her calm honesty stung Ron more than any insult she could have hit him with.

"I know. I'll make it up to you, I promise," he said, clenching his fists. "I'll do anything you ask to make this right again."

"Ron, you know that's not completely true."

"What do you mean?" he exclaimed indignantly. "Merlin's sake, Hermione, won't you give me a chance?"

"Of course I'll give you a chance. I don't give up on people easily. But can you still say you'd do anything I asked, if I asked you to love me again, the way you did before?"

Ron was stunned into silence. Plainly, he hadn't been expecting her to say that. It was a few moments before he was able to mutter,

"I do love you, Hermione. Just…not like that."

"I figured as much," Hermione sighed. She nodded, trying to look composed, but her crumpled face and trembling voice gave away that she was fighting back tears. "I suppose the breakup was as much my fault as it was yours."

"No, it wasn't. I didn't have to treat you so horribly."

"True, but the end was inevitable. Maybe we shouldn't have tried to turn our friendship into a dating relationship."

"Was it truly that bad?" Ron sounded scared. "I mean, do you regret it that much?"

"Well, of course it was nice for awhile, wasn't it? But we probably wouldn't have lasted, I see that now. I don't even know if we would have gotten together in the first place if everyone else didn't think that we were so perfect for one another. They were all wrong, I guess. I hope that your relationship with Lavender works out better than ours did."

"You know about Lavender?" Ron panicked. "I was just about to tell you..."

"Oh, please, Ron, did you really think I wouldn't know? For Christ's sake_, I share a dorm with your new girlfriend!_" Hermione quickly stood up, and seized all her things off the table in a big heap. "I can't believe you thought I would be so clueless. I know I'm not attractive to you anymore, but you don't have to insult my intelligence on top of everything."

"It's not like that!"

But Hermione had already turned around and was flying out of the Great Hall. It was obvious from the way she ran that she didn't know or care where she was going; she just wanted to get away from Ron.

Ron stoically walked back to the end of the table where he had been sitting with Harry. Harry and Neville looked up at him with expressions of pity and the understanding that the conversation could not have possibly had a happy ending.

"Well," Ron said grimly, "_that_ went well."

* * *

**Author's note: **In the original version of this story, which was written before _Half-Blood Prince_ came out, Ron dated Padma Patil after he broke up with Hermione. However, I decided to make the story slightly more canon by having him date Lavender Brown instead, which did happen in HBP.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

For the first time in her life, Hermione wished that the information she had read in _Hogwarts: A History_ was not accurate. For right now, as she sprinted through the halls to Professor McGonagall's office, she dearly wished that it _were_ possible to apparate inside the school grounds.

All throughout her time at Hogwarts, she had refused to let her personal problems interfere with her performance in school. However, these days she found herself losing her concentration while studying and in class more often than she ever had. How could she focus on all those potion ingredients, goblin rebellions, Transfiguration spells, and Arithmancy equations when she has still missing Ron and at the same time being angry at him for having done her wrong?

"C'mon, Hermione Granger, concentrate!" she would admonish herself when she caught her mind drifting. "School is twenty times more important than your problems with bloody Ron. Especially now that you'll have your N.E.W.T.s to worry about soon enough..."

But now she had developed a pattern of getting up extremely early in the morning so that she could rush to finish work that she should have completed the night before. Then, she would feel too tired for the rest of the day to work on her new homework, and the pattern would begin all over again. The big blow to her confidence occurred at the beginning of October, when she actually turned an assignment in late.

Hermione had never been known to turn in an assignment a moment after its deadline. This time, it was late by a few hours; the Transfiguration essay, which was due in the morning, didn't come into McGonagall's hands until the middle of lunch hour.

"I'm so sorry, Professor," Hermione said breathlessly as she flew into McGonagall's office. "I ran over here the moment I finished the essay. This is the only time this will ever happen, I promise."

"Don't worry, Miss Granger, I won't count it as late. Even if I did, any points I deducted from your grade would make barely a dent in your overall academic record, which is currently flawless." Hermione let out a relieved sigh, but her teacher's pardon did not lessen what she saw as an unforgivable crime on her own part. McGonagall must have noticed the still-anxious look on her pupil's face, for she asked in a concerned voice, "Is anything the matter, Miss Granger?"

The last thing Hermione would have done was to deny responsibility, let any professor know anything about her personal life, and say that it was all that damned Ron Weasley's fault.

"I'm fine, Professor, I've just felt a bit... 'off' lately. It's been hard for me to get everything done for the first time ever. I never thought I'd ever start slipping academically..."

McGonagall nodded sympathetically, and put a reassuring hand on the young girl's shoulder.

"Everyone slips a little eventually, even the most brilliant students - especially during seventh year. To me, Miss Granger, this incident just proves that you are human. It doesn't change my confidence in you as a model student one whit."

Hermione responded with a small, false smile. While her professor's faith in her was touching, she secretly thought that in the past month she had never felt less like herself. She had lost her boyfriend (and lost him to _Lavender Brown,_ of all people); her hope for a renewed friendship with Ron wasn't exactly working out; and now her melancholy over the whole affair was impairing the one thing about herself which she had always been proud of: her academic performance.

As her world at Hogwarts seemed to be rapidly unraveling and coming apart, she realized regretfully that the year before she hadn't even been aware of how happy she was at the time, hadn't appreciated how good things really were then. It didn't matter what chaos and danger she was facing during her previous years at Hogwarts; as long as her relationship with her two best friends was still intact and she continued to get excellent grades, everything still seemed to be normal. What if she and Ron never got back their old closeness, she sank even further into depression, and she failed all her classes this year? Oh, God, no - she didn't even want to let herself imagine _that_.

"At least I still have Harry," she thought wistfully. "And Ginny, and Neville, and Luna…they've all been really supportive." She tried to keep her mind on how kind everyone had been to her since the news broke of her being ditched by Ron. Certainly few people were taking his side in the matter. A week into the start of the new school year, Luna Lovegood had walked over to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall at dinner and abruptly approached Hermione. In her detached yet insightful manner, she said,

"Hermione, I heard what Ronald Weasley did to you. And I don't think you should spend any time fretting over him. I always thought he was a rather immature boy. He's nice, and sometimes funny, but not always very considerate or sure of what he wants, is he?" And without another word Luna marched back to the Ravenclaw table. She was so blunt and so on-target about Ron that Hermione just had to laugh softly, and say under her breath,

"No, Luna, you're right, he's not."

And to her surprise, she and Ginny Weasley had grown even closer in the past month. At first she had worried that her relations with the Weasley family would become strained now that she was no longer dating the youngest son. But according to Ginny, the Weasleys considered Hermione just as much an adopted daughter as ever.

"When Mum confronted Ron about the fact that he'd been ignoring your owls, and he finally admitted that he'd broken up with you," Ginny told Hermione a couple weeks prior, "she was furious with him. She said, 'I hope you never break another girl's heart, Ronald Bilius Weasley, but if you do, make sure it's not someone we all love!' And Fred and George keep telling him that he's made the biggest mistake of his life."

Her brown eyes blazing with passion and concern, she went on, "I'm so sorry about what Ron did, Hermione. I want you to know that just because he's my brother and I love him, that doesn't mean I don't think he was an idiot - and is still being an idiot. Merlin, I want to kill him whenever I see him and Lavender acting all lovey-dovey right in front of you! I'm thinking of making them the victim of my next Bat Bogey Hex. It'd be totally worth getting a Howler from Mum just to see them get covered in bogeys right when they're in the middle of snogging."

Hermione had to let out a chortle at this, despite the painful memories of her summer that were reawakened whenever she talked with anyone about the breakup. Ginny possessed the unique ability to make her laugh no matter how upset she was, and Hermione knew she was fortunate to have her as a friend. That was the comfort that was pulling her through these dark days: that no matter what happened with her and Ron (and even, she had to admit to herself, no matter what grades she got this term), she would still be loved.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you're enjoying the story. I know the action has been a bit slow so far, and that it's been a bit depressing, but I think it's much more realistic for Hermione to deal with her breakup slowly instead of rushing into her next relationship. I promise, however, that the next chapter will pick up the pace a little, and that Hermione will get some good news for once.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_Miss Granger,_

_Please see me in my office at the end of your classes today. _

_Sincerely, Prof. Albus Dumbledore_

_P.S. Take note of what I have included with this owl._

Such was the simple, direct note that dropped into Hermione's hands from the beak of a brown spotted owl. She was sitting at the Great Hall at lunch just a few days after she had turned her Transfiguration assignment in late. After reading the note's post-script, she peeked inside the envelope again and pulled out a Chocolate Frog wrapper. She twirled it between her fingers and grinned, knowing that the Headmaster was using one of his clever ways of giving her the password to his office without actually stating it.

"What is it?" Ginny asked, peering over Hermione's shoulder.

"Dumbledore wants to see me," Hermione said. "I can't imagine what about, though." Suddenly she bit her lip in nervousness. "Oh no…I hope it doesn't have anything to do with that late essay from a few days ago…"

"But didn't McGonagall say she wouldn't count it late? And besides, silly, you got it back yesterday and you got a perfect grade," Ginny pointed out. Her tone when she called Hermione "silly" was a teasing one; she loved to make fun of Hermione for being needlessly worried about her grades.

"I know. I guess I'll just have to wait and find out what he wants." Hermione sighed, and then said while jabbing at her food with her fork, "I know this sounds stupid, Gin, but I'm kind of dreading it. After all this mess with Ron and me struggling just to get my work done, Dumbledore calling me to his office just feels like another thing that's going wrong in my life right now. Why can't things go smoothly for once? Why can't I go about my business and not worry about anything, just for a little while?"

"Because then it would be boring," Ginny said, only half facetiously. "And because trouble just seems to follow us wherever we go…it's like a cosmic rule in our group of friends. But I'm sure you have nothing to worry about, Hermione. There's nothing that Dumbledore could possibly yell at you for. But I _am_ curious about what he says -- you'll tell me about it tonight, won't you? Harry and I will be in the Common Room talking about Quidditch strategies if you want to interrupt us and spill the beans."

"If I'm lucky, it won't be anything remotely interesting," Hermione said. "Maybe Dumbledore just wants to give me extra prefect duties or something. As if I need _that_ right now, either." Though she was smiling a little, her stress could be seen in the tiny worry lines that had started very recently to appear on her white, previously smooth forehead. Ginny suddenly found herself wondering if anyone else had noticed those lines…she thought, angrily, that Ron was probably too busy snogging Lavender to notice anything but his new girlfriend's face.

As if by instinct and without much thought, Ginny reached out, took Hermione's hand which was resting on the table, and squeezed it. Hermione looked down at their hands with wide eyes. She seemed to be put off guard by the unexpectedness of the gesture...or was it its intimacy that surprised her so much?

Ginny blushed and quickly let go. "I guess I'll see you tonight, then?" she said hastily.

"Oh…I guess it _is_ almost time to get to class," Hermione said, wiping her mouth with a Gryffindor red-and-gold napkin. "And yeah, of course I'll see you tonight. Thanks again for the sympathy, Gin." The girls gathered their books together, said goodbye and walked off in opposite directions towards where their classes would be – despite the fact that they still had another ten minutes until the end of lunch, and Ginny didn't usually care if she strolled in right as class was starting.

* * *

Just before the two girls had walked far enough that they were no longer in each others' sight, Ginny turned and watched Hermione walk away. Every time she saw the older girl, she couldn't help but think of what it had been like for her to live with Ron at the Burrow last summer when he'd been avoiding Hermione like the plague. At first the Weasleys would bring it up to him fairly frequently, such as when her father would say over dinner,

"Son, have you heard from Hermione lately? I'm surprised you two haven't seen each other more. Didn't you tell her that she was welcome to visit us any time? And I thought she said last winter that she was going to invite us to her parents' house soon."

"Yeah…uh, she's too busy right now," Ron muttered, avoiding his father's eyes as if they too had the plague. "She's been studying. You know how mad she is with her studying." Although this answer seemed to satisfy their parents for a short while, Ginny knew from the beginning that her brother was trying to cop out of something. What Ron didn't know was that Ginny had sneaked into his bedroom one afternoon and discovered the large pile of letters from Hermione. Dating from the beginning of summer, the letters had never been opened, and they had been covered with a dirty t-shirt as if Ron was trying to hide them.

And what Hermione didn't know – what Ginny, for some reason, didn't want to tell her – was that it was also Ginny who had forced Ron to go to Hermione's house that day at the end of the summer and finally tell her the truth. Ginny intercepted the last letter from Hermione before Ron could even see it, and after reading it she ran to the kitchen and threw the letter in Ron's face, yelling,

"Look, Ron. She says that if you ignore her one more time, she's going to apprarate over here and confront you herself. So why don't you actually be a bloody Gryffindor, grow a pair, and just break up with her before you hurt her more than you already have?"

"You read my mail! You have no right to do that!" Ron yelled, snatching at the letter.

"Oh, like _you_ were going to read it any way – you'd just put it in that stupid pile in your room, along with all her other letters you never opened!" Ginny whipped her wand from out of her back pocket, shoved the tip of it in her brother's face, and said in a dangerously low voice, "You know, I can't understand for the life of me why you're doing this to her. Hermione is much better than anything you'd ever get again. She's gorgeous and smart, and funny, and a good friend who's gone through hell and back for you. Most of all, she's mature, something you're a long way from becoming."

"Fuck you, Ginny," Ron spat at her. Her eyes widened in shock; although they'd traded insults constantly since they were small children, he'd never cursed at her that vehemently before. "Get off my back. This is none of your business."

"No, fuck _you_, Ron! Of course it's my business – she's my friend, too!" She pushed her wand even further into his neck until the skin underneath turned white; a terrified look spread across his face and he squirmed beneath her. "Now, you'd better go to her house and put an end to all of this," she went on, "or else I'm going to hex the _shit_ out of you. I don't care if you're my brother, I don't care if the Ministry sends me a warning for practicing underage magic, and I don't care what Mum and Dad say. Knowing how much they love Hermione, they'll probably say you deserved it."

For a moment, neither of them moved. They stood in a silent power struggle as they simply stared at each other, Ginny's blazing eyes steadfastly locked on Ron's. And then suddenly, Ron disapparated with a loud _pop._

For a moment all Ginny could do was gape at the spot where Ron had stood. Then she ran up to the fifth landing to check if he was in his bedroom; it was empty. She ran to every room of the house, and then all around the garden, and even peered inside the shed where her father kept his Muggle artifacts. When she finally determined that Ron hadn't just apparated to another part of the Burrow like a complete coward, she sank to her knees in the grass, out of breath.

She was relieved that Ron was finally doing the right thing, as forced as it was, by breaking up with Hermione. And yet she also felt a deep sadness as she realized that her friend had probably been hurt far worse than anyone could imagine, and that her pain was far from over. And Ginny felt another emotion as well – one that she could not quite put her finger on exactly what it was. _It's probably guilt_, she thought protectively. _Guilt that even though I threatened Ron, I couldn't do enough to help Hermione._ She sat on the ground with her arms wrapped around her knees, until Fred and George came by and told her that Ron had just apparated back from Hermione's house.

* * *

Hermione had never been to Dumbledore's office alone before, so she was somewhat apprehensive as she squeezed behind the statue of a gargoyle and said as clearly as she could, "Chocolate Frogs." To her amazement and satisfaction, the gargoyle statue leapt aside and the wall split apart to reveal a moving, winding staircase. One she was at the top, she grabbed the heavy knocker and was ready to pound on the shiny oak door, but stopped when she heard Dumbledore's voice ring out, "Come in, Miss Granger!"

She took a few steps backwards, startled. _How did he know...?_ she wondered. But then, deciding that there was very little about the Headmaster that should surprise her anymore, she shrugged and entered the lovely circular room. She loved how much sunlight streamed into the office through the many windows; the rest of the castle often depressed her with how gloomy and dark it was.

Dumbledore was not sitting at his desk as she expected, but standing in front of Fawkes's golden perch and feeding the bird some strange green star-shaped leaves. When he noticed Hermione had entered the room, he smiled and sat down in his chair, saying,

"Well, good afternoon, Miss Granger. I'm very glad to see that you received and understood my letter. Do, sit down," and he waved towards the visitor's chair in front of his desk.

Hermione sat down obligingly, and said quietly,

"Thank you, Professor. I – I hope you haven't been waiting for me long, I was delayed awhile in Professor Snape's class..."

"Not at all. Give me a moment to get everything in order, and we shall talk." She watched as Dumbledore opened a drawer, spent a few seconds searching for something, and then retrieved a wide, slender brown folder and placed it on top of all the pieces of parchment that were already scattered across his huge desk. She could just barely make out the words _Granger, Hermione J._ inscribed on the front of the folder in red ink.

"Sir…are those my student records?" she asked, her heart thumping against her chest. _Oh, Merlin, I must be in trouble after all._

"They are," he said. "And you have nothing to be concerned about," he added, seeing the anxious look on her face. "Actually, you should be happy to know that a cursory look at your records reveals that you're still number one in your class. This includes the marks of students in all four Houses."

"I'm still at the top of my class?" Hermione exclaimed, leaning forward in her chair in her excitement. "I _was_ worried about that, Professor – I haven't been able to concentrate as well this year as I did before…"

"Yes, Professor McGonagall told me that," said Dumbledore, gazing at her kindly through the top of his half-moon glasses. "She informed me of a conversation you two had a few days ago in which you admitted that you had been struggling. Since you are one of the school's brightest and most hard-working students, I was worried about you. I tried to think of ways that I might help you, and I found the answer when I looked at your records."

"What answer was that, sir?" Hermione was somewhat taken aback that Dumbledore cared enough about her to try to make things easier for her. She knew that the old man had aided her, Harry and Ron numerous times during their seven years at Hogwarts, but still he'd always seemed to care about Harry the most out of the trio. He had never gone out of his way before to help her solely.

"It would seem," he said, opening the folder and flipping towards the first page, "that due to the use of a Time Turner in your third year to take extra classes, you've accumulated enough credits to graduate from Hogwarts early – this December, to be exact, right before the winter holidays. Of course, it would mean you'd have to take your N.E.W.T.s early as well, and it's already October…and I expect you want to graduate with your friends, Mr. Potter and Weasley…but I thought you'd want to be aware of the option–"

"Wait…I could really graduate from Hogwarts in _two months?"_ Hermione interrupted him. Her mind was reeling; she could hardly believe what she had just heard. Leaving Hogwarts so soon was never anything she would have planned, but could it be the thing that would get out of her rut? She pictured herself already out of school and working a real job like the adult that she felt she was, and the idea excited her far more than she would ever have expected.

"Well, yes," Dumbledore replied, raising one his white eyebrows. "Of course, you still have the option to remain here and graduate with the rest of your class, as I have said. But if you wanted to leave Hogwarts in December, you would be able to avoid the burden of doing unnecessary work in the spring term. As long as you are prepared to take the N.E.W.T.s early…"

Hermione looked at her hands as they lay in her lap, silently mulling over Dumbledore's last point. _Was_ she ready to take the N.E.W.T.s so soon? She had been studying for it, on and off, all summer and ever since the start of the term, even despite how much a distraction her troubles with Ron had been. She was certainly more prepared for the exam than most other seventh years at this point in the school year. The over-achiever in her resisted the idea of not having all year to study for the test – but if she was still at the top of her class, did she really need all year?

And then there was the fact that if she did leave early, she would miss Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna terribly…but she could always find a job and a flat somewhere nearby, like Hogsmeade…

"Could I think it over and let you know later, sir?" Hermione asked, looking up at Dumbledore again.

"Of course – there's no need to decide anything today. But I will need you to give me your decision in the next week or so." As he let showed her out of the room, he smiled at her and said, "I will be very saddened to see you leave us, Miss Granger, whenever that will be. But I'm confident that no matter what, you will be a very successful young witch."

Hermione managed to smile back at him, and walked out of the office. As the winding staircase moved her slowly back down to the gargoyle statue, she had to grip the railing; the shock of what Dumbledore had just told her was making her dizzy. Her life definitely seemed to be taking an unpredictable -- and interesting -- turn.

* * *

**A/N:** First, a note to all the Ron-lovers who are reading this fic: I know I'm making him seem like quite the jerk, but believe me, I don't dislike his character at all. I actually love Ron, and I'm even a RW/HG shipper. But I do think that in most of the HP books he's really immature, and in my fic he's acting just like an immature teenage boy would. (Believe me, I'd know – the breakup in this fic is based on an experience of my own from when I was 17.) I don't want you to think that because his behavior is so bad in this fic that I'm a Ron-basher.

Secondly: sorry it has been _so_ long since I updated this story. Most of my fanfics are on hiatus, but because of a very kind review I received recently asking for more, I decided to add a new chapter. To anyone who might have started reading this fic ages ago and is reading this now – thank you so much for your patience! I can't believe I started this fic almost four years ago…never did I think I'd still be working on it in 2007. Hopefully it won't be another year before I complete the next chapter. ;)

Finally: a reminder that this story should be considered AU (alternative universe) and non-canon because it disregards the events of _Half-Blood Prince_ and _Deathly Hallows._ Dumbledore is still alive in this fic because I just wanted to write a nice love story set during seventh year, in which the main events are Hermione breaking up with Ron and then falling for Ginny. I love all of the HP books, but including all the terrible things that happened in the last few (such as the main character deaths) would definitely put a huge damper on the type of story I'm trying to write. (I'm still going to try to keep Hermione and everyone else as much in character as possible.) If you're okay with me bending canon that much, then go ahead and read the story. I hope you'll still like it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"But Hermione, you can't leave now -- you just _can't."_

The flames from the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room illuminated the shadowed forms of Hermione, Ginny and Harry, causing flecks of light to dance across their faces like a lively fairy. Hermione turned her face away towards the hearth as the smallest droplets of tears began to well in Ginny's brown eyes.

"I'm not _really_ leaving, Gin," Hermione said in a pleading voice. "First of all, nothing's set in stone, because I'll still have to pass the N.E.W.T.s before I can leave…and I'll be lucky if I can accomplish that. And secondly, if I _am_ able to leave Hogwarts after December, I'll still be incredibly close to all of you. If I can get an apprenticeship with McGonagall or Flitwick or one of the other professors, you might even still get to see me at the castle every day. And if that doesn't work out, I could get a job in Hogsmeade. It's not like I'm going far away or going away forever."

"But I don't understand why you have to leave at all!" Ginny cried, running a hand through her messy ginger hair. "I feel like you're doing it just so you can run away from your problems with Ron -- no, don't look at me like that, 'Mione! I'm not blaming you, I know how terrible it is for you to see him with Lavender and be constantly reminded of the relationship you had with him. It's been hurting you _so_ much; probably no one else sees it as well as I do. But you have to be strong and get through it -- if we've learned anything together at Hogwarts, it's that you can't just run away from your problems--"

"Ginny, c'mon," Harry interrupted her in a scolding tone. "This is Hermione's decision -- lots of kids would finish school early if they could. It's not cool for you to accuse her of avoiding her problems, you should be supportive."

"I _am_ supportive!" Ginny protested. Turning towards Hermione, she continued, "I'm happy for you, I really am. And I honestly don't blame you for wanting to graduate early now that you know you have the chance. But I feel like…if your main reason for leaving Hogwarts before the year is out is so that you won't have to see Ron, then it's like you're letting him win. He wouldn't have to face the consequences of how badly he treated you. And that's just too unfair, I couldn't deal with it." She was silent for a few moments; the far-off look in her eyes made her appear as if she were trying to figure out how to express some deeply-hidden thought. Finally, she added, "And dammit, I know it's selfish -- but I'll miss you so much, Hermione. It's been hard enough for me to get used to the idea that I won't see a lot of my friends next year when they've all graduated and I'm still here. I don't know what I'll do without you after December, if you leave."

Hermione pulled even tighter around herself the patchwork quilt she'd draped over her shoulders. Ginny's passionate reaction to her news was something that she hadn't been at all prepared for. The two girls, while they had always gotten along very well in the past, simply hadn't shared that deep of a bond. But she could see now that so much about their relationship had changed in the last few months. And as awkward as it made her feel that Ginny was nearly crying at the prospect of her leaving, she couldn't help feeling very touched as well.

"Ginny's not completely wrong, Harry," Hermione said quietly. "I have to admit…part of the reason why I decided to graduate early, or to try anyway, is so that I won't have to deal with this mess with Ron anymore. I want to be his friend again eventually, but I just can't right now. The wounds are still too fresh. If we spent some time apart…then maybe.

"But that's not the only reason. Believe me, I thought about it long and hard this afternoon -- I told myself that I had to be absolutely certain that if I did this it was for the right motives. It just seems like it's time for me to move on. I don't feel like I'll have missed out on anything by graduating from Hogwarts after six and a half years instead of seven. I've already had an unforgettable time here and made such good" -- she had a short intake of breath, her voice breaking with emotion -- "no, such absolutely _amazing_ friends. And now I'm eighteen, I'm almost a year older than most other seventh years, and I feel like this is the time in my life when I need to finish with school and go on to the next big thing, whatever that may be. I want my career and the rest of my life to start. And my life will still include all of you, but I'm done being a student. I hope that both of you can understand that."

Quietness fell over the room, the only sound being the crackling of logs in the fireplace. Hermione gazed at Harry, knowing what his answer would be, but she felt very uncomfortable as her eyes darted to Ginny and she saw that the redhead's jaw was clenched and she was taking shallow breaths as if she were still struggling not to cry.

"Gin?" Hermione said softly, almost in a whisper. This time, it was she who reached out and grabbed the other girl's hand; and it was Ginny who looked up, startled. "Ginny…I promise that it'll be all right. If you want…I was going to go flat-hunting in Hogsmeade this weekend, and I'd love for you to go with me…"

"I'd like that," Ginny said, much more quickly than Hermione expected. Her face relaxed, and she even managed a small smile as she went on, "I guess you're right -- Hogsmeade is right next door to the castle anyway…and maybe I could crash at your flat if I ever need get to get away for a night?"

"Of course." Hermione was still holding onto Ginny's hand, something that went unnoticed by both of them. "Just knick Harry's invisibility cloak and come on over -- I'll always be there if you get tired of being around insensitive blokes."

"Hey, thanks a lot!" Harry suddenly spoke up in a tone of mock-indignation. "By the way, in case you two've forgotten, I _am_ still here."

Hermione and Ginny looked at each other, and burst into giggles as if they were sharing a private joke.

"Oh, c'mon, Harry, you know you're hardly insensitive -- you've been there for me from the very beginning," Hermione said kindly once she'd stopped laughing. "And we're not excluding you, but I think that Gin and I need to spend some time together, just us girls. We've been hanging around boys our entire time at Hogwarts; it's only fair that we should get a break from them every now and then."

"Speaking of which, I'll have you know I'm still pissed off that Ron's getting off scot free," Ginny said, scowling a little. "It's not fair that as soon as you're out of sight and out of mind, he'll get to carry on snogging that airhead like nothing happened."

Hermione was quiet for a moment, and then replied thoughtfully,

"I don't think he's getting off scot free. He's definitely not all that popular now that everyone knows how he treated me last summer…which isn't what I was intending or hoping would happen, but it did. And in a way, I think my leaving Hogwarts is much a consequence of what he did to me as anything else. Maybe after I've graduated, he'll finally realize how much he's hurt our friendship…or maybe at least he'll suffer when he sees there's no one there to fix his homework anymore."

She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice, but was unsuccessful. Ginny nodded her head in understanding and put her arm around Hermione's shoulders. The two girls and Harry continued to sit in the Gryffindor Common Room together, talking and huddling under blankets, until the last embers in the fireplace died and they became too cold and tired to stay up any longer.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry this chapter was rather shorter than the others, guys. For some reason it was harder for me to write than the previous ones. But in the next chapters you'll get to read about Ginny helping Hermione find a flat in Hogsmeade, and Ron's reaction to Hermione's leaving, and more! Thanks to the lovely people who have either reviewed this story, or added me to their alert lists or favorite stories/authors lists. This is for all of you. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

If you asked Hermione what was her favorite time of the year to be in Hogsmeade, she would have a hard time giving you a definite answer. At first, she would probably respond that it was winter. She never forgot how, the first time she had seen the village during that season, she was struck by how much it reminded her of a film version of _A Christmas Carol_ she had seen as a small child. The Dickensian feel of Hogsmeade in winter filled her with a comforting, nostalgic feeling, as did many parts of the wizarding world because they seemed so much more medieval and Victorian than the beeping, technology-run Muggle world she had grown up in. As she took in all the parts of the wizarding village – the mantle of dazzling white snow which covered the thatched roofs of the tiny pubs and cottages; the trails of thick grey smoke seeping from the chimney-tops; the scent of cinnamon, pine needles and burning wood lingering in the air; and the witches and wizards bustling about their winter robes and hats to shop for the Yule holidays – she thought wistfully to herself that she didn't need a Time Turner to be transported back to a time past.

Of course, Hogsmeade in spring was nothing to scoff at, either. At the end of a long winter (particularly February, which was the month she detested most because she'd grown so tired and depressed by the cold weather by then), nothing raised her spirits more than to walk through the village on a weekend in a tank top and her favorite pair of jeans, at last able to feel the warm sun on her back and shoulders again. Instead of spending so much of her time rushing out of the stinging cold to The Three Broomsticks to get a cup of hot cocoa or a pint of butterbeer, or crowding with other students in heated shops until it was time for them to head back to Hogwarts, she could stroll about in the open air for as long as she liked. At the beginning of that time of the year, the simple sight of a box of blooming flowers sitting on the window sill of a shop filled with her with so much appreciation of all the beauty in the world that she felt as though she were being reborn.

But if you asked her on the October day in seventh year when she went hunting for flats in Hogsmeade what was her favorite time to visit the village, she would have definitely answered that it was autumn. More importantly, she would have answered that it was that very day, that very moment. There was something that hung in the air that afternoon that she couldn't describe in any other way but _magical_ – if she dared use that word, when magic had become something so every-day and commonplace to her. Hermione had always adored autumn, feeling that it was the perfect balance between the harshness of summer and winter. Her eyes fell on the softly glowing jack-o-lanterns that hung from the trees and decorated the shops in anticipation of Halloween and Samhain, and she trudged through the narrow High Street which was scattered with orange, red, and yellow leaves; and the thought occurred to her that it was not only the foliage that was changing, but her life as well. The leaves grew older and fell from the branches of the trees from which they had sprung, just as she was growing older and preparing to leave her childhood behind for the horizon of adulthood that lay before her.

"I think that first flat you wanted to look at is just a few blocks from here," Ginny said, pulling Hermione out of her dreamy state. Hermione's eyes darted from the leaf-covered road to the face of her friend – and she suddenly realized how cute Ginny looked that day. She was wearing a forest green argyle sweater over a white collared shirt, slender dark blue jeans, and a pair of black leather clogs which added several inches to her height. Her wavy ginger hair was loosely plaited into two long, messy pigtails; the hairstyle might have looked childish on other girls, but somehow Ginny was able to pull it off and still appear every bit of her sixteen years. The slightly nippy October air had given her cheeks a ruddy, earthy glow, and Hermione found herself wondering exactly when Ginny had changed from the tiny, quiet girl who ran away blushing at the sight of Harry Potter. Somehow she had transformed into a young woman who was not only confident and assertive, but also strikingly beautiful in a down-to-earth way. Moreover, she no longer seemed to have any interest in Harry at all aside from friendship. She'd broken up with Dean Thomas after they'd only been a couple of months together, and instead of immediately snatching up Harry like so many thought she would, she seemed perfectly content to remain single for the time being. But why was Hermione noticing her friend's beauty now, and why did she suddenly care so much that Ginny didn't have or want a boyfriend…?

"Oh…yeah, I think you're right," Hermione murmured. She stopped in her tracks so she could reach into her brown leather satchel and pull out the classifieds section of _The Daily Prophet._ Earlier that morning, she and Ginny had perused the newspaper in search of flats that would be available in Hogsmeade after the winter holidays, circling in red ink the ads that looked promising. They had come up with several leads, one of which was located right across the street from The Three Broomsticks. "It would be nice to live so close to the pub," Hermione mused aloud. "As long as it doesn't get so loud there at night that I'd hear the commotion when I was trying to work…"

"I doubt it, all the loud sketchy people probably go to The Hog's Head. And maybe Madam Rosmerta would start giving you free butterbeers if you came to her pub often enough," Ginny grinned.

Hermione snorted. "Yeah, right. Ron's been flirting with her for years, and she's never given him one free butterbeer."

"Yeah, but you're a lot hotter than Ron is." Ginny said it in a playful, almost sardonic tone, the kind that girls often use when flattering their friends, but Hermione raised her eyebrows a bit at the comment; Ginny had rarely ever complimented her looks. "And besides," Ginny went on, "we all know that Rosmerta isn't the type to pay any favors to her _male_ customers."

Hermione's jaw dropped as Ginny's meaning dawned on her. "You're kidding! Madam Rosmerta's a...a lesbian?"

"Well, of course. Didn't you ever notice she doesn't have a husband?" Ginny said in a matter-of-fact tone. She might as well have said _"__Duh.__"_ Hermione's face flushed; she hated the feeling that everyone else knew something she didn't. She crossed her arms over her chest and said sharply,

"Just because a woman doesn't have a husband doesn't mean that she's a lesbian, Ginevra. Lots of women choose to stay single. There's nothing wrong with that."

"Of course there's nothing wrong with it, but Madam Rosmerta's 'chosen to stay single' for quite some time now. She's actually widowed – she got married when she was really young, and her husband died about twenty years ago. And you're right that not all unmarried women are lesbians, but there're some formerly-married women who are. Rosmerta never got remarried, and it's an open secret that she's been seeing our flying instructor for years. That's why Hooch is over at the pub so often, she practically lives there during the weekends and holidays…"

"Wait, you mean _Hooch_––?" Hermione exclaimed. She was never one to listen to gossip, especially about the personal lives of her professors, but she was astounded by what Ginny was telling her. Madam Rosmerta and Madam Hooch, a lesbian couple? She never would have guessed it on her own.

Ginny laughed, not unkindly, and said, "Yes, her too. Rosmerta may not be that obvious, I guess, but I would've thought that anyone would be able to spot Hooch from a mile away…"

"Well, not all of us have the time to sit around wondering who's a lesbian," Hermione muttered. Ginny took Hermione's arm in hers in a friendly way, and said,

"You just have no gaydar, that's all. But why don't we forget about Rosmerta and Hooch, and check out that flat?"

Before Hermione could begin to wonder why she should need a gaydar, Ginny pulled her down the road and they walked arm-in-arm for the next few blocks until, as expected, they found the address of the flat across the street from the pub. It was a small, two-storey square-ish cottage not unlike most of the other buildings in Hogsmeade, constructed out of dark wood and with a thatched roof. There was a brass knocker on the door; Hermione timidly reached out and banged it rather loudly two times. She and Ginny waited for a couple of minutes, but no one came to the door.

"D'you suppose they're not home?" Hermione asked, standing on her tiptoes to see if there was a light coming through the windows.

"Maybe we should move on to the next one––" Ginny began, but just then the door swung rapidly open, causing the girls to stagger backwards off the front steps. An elderly, stooped wizard was standing in front of them; he had thinning white hair and thick eyebrows that hung over his very light blue eyes. He wore a tweed driver's cap on his head, and in his hands he carried a broom and a dustpan as if he'd just been interrupted while cleaning.

"'Ello?" he said in a gruff voice. "Yer not sellin' anythin', are yeh?"

"Um, n-no," Hermione faltered, "we, uh, saw your advertisement in _T__he Daily Prophet_, the one about the flat?"

"Oh, yeah," the old man said, as if he'd forgotten that he'd placed the ad. "Well, why don't yeh come in an' have yerselves a look at it. The name's Hugolf Bodley, by-the-by." He turned and walked back into his house without waiting to see if the girls would follow him. Hermione turned to Ginny with an alarmed expression on her face, as if she wasn't sure what to do. Ginny merely shrugged, and whispered, "We might as well see what it looks like." Hermione nodded, and she and Ginny passed through the door into the little building.

Only a few candles and a small fire in the hearth lit the first storey of the house. Hermione could tell that the first floor must be the one that the old man was renting out, because it was so unfurnished and felt so un-lived in. There was a kitchen off to one side, which contained just enough room for a rusty stove, an avocado green icebox, a couple of cupboards and the smallest sink she'd ever seen. She might have been able to fit both of her hands (with her fingers splayed open) at the bottom of that metal, rectangular sink, that was all; Merlin knows how one was supposed to wash dishes inside it.

On the other side of the flat was the bedroom. It was simply a tiny square-shaped room, not much bigger than the space she currently had to herself in the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dormitory. It had whitewashed walls, a single three-by-three foot window, and a hardwood floor. There was a rather old and scratched-up dark wooden bed frame (the size of a twin bed, and without a box-spring or mattress) pushed against the right wall, and a matching dresser beside it that came up only to Hermione's waist.

She walked out and saw that in a cramped alcove between the two other rooms was the bathroom. Once again the walls were whitewash and gave off the impression of desperately wanting some wallpaper. Since there were no windows in the bathroom, it was quite dim inside. There was a toilet, a sink and a bathtub, all made of white porcelain – but they had clearly seen better days, as the porcelain was rather chipped and stained in many places. It seemed to Hermione that she would have to crouch in the bathtub with her knees close to her chest in order to fit inside it, and she wasn't exactly a big girl.

She suddenly remembered that this flat had been the least expensive of the ones that she and Ginny had circled in _The Daily Prophet_…and now she knew exactly why.

"Well, thank you, Mr. Bodley," she said, clearing her throat. "I will, um, let you know what I decide."

"Yeh don't want ter take more time lookin' 'round?" the old wizard asked, raising his large eyebrows.

"Is there anything else to look at?" said Hermione, hoping that the question didn't sound rude.

"No, I suppose there ain't. But if yeh want a cheap flat to stay in, yeh won't find much cheaper 'en this one. If yer gonna take it, yeh'd best snatch it up before some other student does."

"Thanks, we'll let you know shortly," Ginny broke in. "And now we'll see ourselves out, if you don't mind." She grabbed Hermione's arm and practically dragged her out of the cottage. Mr. Bodley just shrugged and raised the tip of his cap at the girls as they left.

Once the girls were outside the cottage and had slammed the door shut, Ginny bent over with her hands on her knees and burst into hysterical laughter as if she'd been holding it in for all that time.

_"Merlin's great bloody balls,"_ she gasped, trying to control her laughter. "I feel sorry for any student who's so down on his luck that he has to take _that_ place."

"It _was_ rather horrid, wasn't it?" Hermione agreed, chewing on her lip as if trying to keep from giggling herself. "I mean, well, I guess it could've been worse…it was clean, at least…"

"Oh, Hermione, you're way too kind! That was the darkest, smallest, most depressing flat I've ever seen in my life, and Mr. Bodley didn't exactly seem like the friendliest landlord. I wouldn't let you live there even if you wanted to."

"I wouldn't want to," Hermione said, shaking her head firmly. "I suppose I could deal with it if I had no other options, or if I only had to be there for a very short time…but my ideal flat would be something sunny and cheerful, and a place that I could be happy living in for the rest of my life. _That_ definitely wasn't it."

"Well, I'm glad your self esteem is high enough that you know you deserve better. Oh, Merlin," Ginny breathed, still laughing a little. "I think I'm going to need some firewhiskey after that one. Come on, let's stop in The Three Broomsticks."

* * *

Apparently everyone else in Hogsmeade that day was fancying a firewhiskey, because when Hermione and Ginny squeezed inside the place was so packed that the only table they could secure was a two-seater right next to the bar. As soon as Hermione sat down, she couldn't help scanning the crowded pub for Madam Rosmerta. The lovely, curvy barmaid was carrying two pitchers of some frothy drink over to a table a few feet away, and as usual she was smiling as she chatted to her customers.

Hermione had previously never entertained the possibility of Madam Rosmerta being a lesbian…was it really obvious to everyone but her? Then again, she didn't know what a lesbian was supposed to look like, anyway. She guessed that one would look just like any other straight woman. She hated stereotypes and knew of no particular qualities that would make her look at a person and immediately assume they were gay. Moreover, she didn't think that there was anything strange, wrong or even very different about homosexuality. Her former professor, Remus Lupin, had just last year come out with the fact that he and Sirius Black had become lovers while they were teenagers at Hogwarts, and that their relationship had continued after Sirius escaped from Azkaban and until his death. The revelation hadn't bothered Hermione at all; in fact, she thought that Remus and Sirius must have been a very loving couple, one whose relationship made perfect sense. As for Rosmerta, she was an extremely attractive woman, especially for one in her mid-forties – so whoever captured her attentions was a lucky person regardless of whether they were male or female, Hermione thought.

"It might be forever before we can get served here," Ginny sighed, once again breaking Hermione out of her reverie. "I hope Harry and Ron don't plan on coming in here soon."

Hermione winced at the sudden mention of her ex-boyfriend, as she almost always did (although that reaction was occurring less and less as time went by). "I think Harry said that they were going to go to Zonko's and Honeydukes, and then just go back to the castle," she said.

Her mind drifted back to earlier that week when she'd announced to Ron that she was planning on leaving Hogwarts early. It had taken her forever to find him, and when she finally did he was sitting in a corner of the empty Transfiguration classroom, sucking face with Lavender. (Did he ever do anything else these days?, she wondered. Did the boy even eat anymore, or did Lavender contain some secret power that allowed Ron to suck all his energy out of her like a Dementor?)

Hermione coughed rather loudly, which caused Ron to finally turn his face towards hers.

"Oh…hey, 'Mione," he said, a bewildered expression on his snogged face.

"Hi," she said shortly. "Ron, I'd like to talk to you…alone," and she glared at Lavender. The blonde pouted, and said to Ron in an annoying, whiny voice,

"Won-Won, you're not going to let her kick me out, are you? _She's_ the one who interrupted _us._"

"Er…well…" Ron stuttered, his face flushing redder than his hair. He was clearly caught between a rock and a hard place in which he'd have to choose whether to anger his ex-girlfriend or anger his current one. Luckily for him, Hermione wasn't going to give him the chance to choose.

"_She_ doesn't appreciate being talked about in the third person as if she wasn't here!" Hermione said, her voice and her temper rising. "And if you had any tact at all, you'd gladly allow your boyfriend to have a private conversation with his old friend."

_"Fine,"_ Lavender snapped, and flounced out of the room. She mumbled the words, _"Bossy know-it-__all,"_ before the classroom door was slammed behind her. Instead of being offended, Hermione actually laughed. She'd been called a bossy know-it-all so often since she started Hogwarts that she'd come to wear the label almost like a badge of pride. She her attentions back towards Ron.

"A little whipped, are we?" she said, smirking a little. Ron chose to ignore that comment, and instead scratched the back of his head nervously and said,

"Um…what's up, Hermione? We…we haven't talked in awhile…"

"No, we haven't," Hermione said softly. "I'm surprised anyone's managed to talk to you at all lately, seeing as your lips are always so…occupied."

Ron looked truly hurt at that. "C'mon, can't we talk without being beastly to one another? You're the one who wanted to talk to me, so why not just say what you have to say?"

Hermione nodded, realizing reluctantly that he was right. If she ever wanted to be friends with Ron again (and she truly did, someday), then she'd have to keep the bitterness out of her voice when she spoke to him…even if he _was_ being a complete prat by carrying on with his new girlfriend in front of her.

"I just thought I should tell you," she began, "that Dumbledore called me to his office the other day. He told me that because I took so many extra classes in third year, I can sit the N.E.W.T.s and graduate from Hogwarts in December. And I think I'm going to."

Ron's mouth opened into a perfect O-shape. "You're leaving?" he cried. "But…but I always thought that you, me and Harry would graduate together…"

"So did I. But I've been given the opportunity to finish school and start my career a few months earlier than I thought I would, and I'm going to take it. I plan on living in Hogsmeade, and I might even take up an apprenticeship with one of our professors if I can – so I won't be going far away. But with luck I won't be a student anymore after the winter holidays. I just thought you ought to know."

It was clear that Ron didn't know how to respond, and that the news came as a great shock to him. Hermione could even see a deep sadness in his blue eyes, one she tried to ignore…but how could she not see it, when she had gazed into those eyes so many times when the two of them were a couple?

"You…you remember how I told you, awhile back, that I'd do anything to make things right with us again?" Ron said at last, his eyes cast downward to his hands which were picking at the bottom of his sweater. "Well, that still stands, if you want. If there's anything I can say, or do, that will make you decide not to leave…I'll do it…"

As if she had no control over it at all, Hermione felt her eyes begin to smart with tears. Ron sounded the most remorseful and the most sincere that he'd ever sounded since he broke up with her. And suddenly (though she would never admit it), she felt a great urge to fling herself into his arms and sob on his shoulder, telling him that she forgave him completely and that all she wanted was to be best friends with him again…

But she couldn't do that. Instead, she quietly cleared her throat and said in a trembling voice, "It's not just about you, Ron. It's more complicated than that. I'll tell you the same thing I told Ginny and Harry – I'm not running away from anything, I'm just ready to move on and start the rest of my life. I'd probably feel the same way if…if nothing had happened between you and me." She paused, and then said in an even lower voice, "But if you'd stop carrying on with Lavender in front of me for the rest of the time I'm at Hogwarts, I'd really appreciate it. What I _really_ want is to ask you to stop seeing her, but I won't do that. I have no right, and it wouldn't make any difference. I just want you know that what you've been doing really hurts – even if you haven't been intentionally trying to hurt me, which I hope is the case."

"Okay," Ron said, nodding his head. "And I haven't. Been intentionally trying to hurt you, that is. I swear." Hermione noticed that he didn't take the hint and offer to end his relationship with Lavender – something she secretly hoped he would do, but she wasn't surprised when he didn't.

"Thanks. I…I'll see you later, then," she said. She forced a weak smile, which ended up looking more like a grimace.

"See you," said Ron, his eyes still brimming with sadness. "And…good luck, Hermione. I know you'll ace your N.E.W.T.s."

Hermione nodded; it was all that she could do. His being kind to her pained her more than when he had been cruel. She turned her back and walked quickly out, not letting herself burst into tears until she was alone in the stony hallway. What she didn't know when she closed the thick door behind her was that she wasn't the only one of the Trio whose eyes were wet.

Back in The Three Broomsticks with Ginny that weekend, she tried to banish the scene from replaying in her mind. She was out with her good friend, who was helping her in her search for a new flat; she wasn't supposed to feel sad.

"Hello, girls," came a voice that sounded like honey. Hermione and Ginny looked up to see Madam Rosmerta standing in front of their table, at last able to take their orders. "How are you doing this lovely fall afternoon?"

"Great," Ginny said, grinning. "And yourself, Madam Rosmerta?"

"Slammed!" the barmaid exclaimed, gesturing towards all the madness around her. "My weekends are usually busy, but this is ridiculous. I'm sorry it took me so long to get over to your table, girls."

"It's all right," Hermione said, smiling kindly. "Could we have two firewhiskeys, please?"

"Of course…you're both seventeen, aren't you?"

Hermione started. She'd forgotten that Ginny was nearly two years younger than she was and therefore not legally allowed to drink yet. She'd never really viewed Ginny as being younger than her, since the redhead mostly hung out with the crowd from Hermione's year anyway.

"Uh…" she said, but then Ginny broke in, "Of course we are! Would we be ordering firewhiskey if we weren't?"

That got a big, hearty laugh out of Rosmerta. "Nice try, darling. How about a firewhiskey for your friend and a butterbeer for youself? I normally wouldn't give a toss, but firewhiskey has so much more alcohol in it that I could lose my pub for serving it to minors."

"We'd never want that to happen to you, Rosmerta," Ginny said sincerely. "All right, all right…I'll take a butterbeer."

"Actually – just go ahead and make it two butterbeers," Hermione said quickly, who didn't really like firewhiskey anyway. Unlike Harry, Ron, the Weasley twins and most other boys she knew, she wasn't particularly fond of the scorching sensation in her throat when she drank it. Rosmerta smiled coyly, wrote down their orders and retreated back to behind the bar counter to get their drinks.

Hermione leaned in towards Ginny with a wide grin across her face. "You are a _naughty_ girl, Ginevra Weasley!" she cried. "You almost had Madam Rosmerta serving firewhiskey to a minor."

"You mean _you_ almost ordered firewhiskey for a minor," Ginny said, smirking playfully. "So who's the naughty one?"

"I honestly forgot that you're younger than me," Hermione admitted. For some reason, this made Ginny throw her head back in laugher, causing her two red pigtails to go flying over her shoulders. Once again, Hermione couldn't remember Ginny ever looking so beautiful.

"Hey, look!" Ginny suddenly whispered, grabbing Hermione's sleeve and pointing discreetly across the bar. "See who's there?"

Hermione glanced over to where Ginny was pointing, and she saw an athletic looking woman with hawk-like amber eyes and spiky grey hair sitting at the far end of the bar. It was, of course, Madam Hooch. She was leaning over the counter, her face very close to Madam Rosmerta's as they chatted. The two women did look _very_ friendly.

"What did I tell you?" Ginny grinned, looking quite pleased with herself. "They're totally lovers."

Hermione didn't disagree. It was now abundantly clear to her that Rosmerta and Hooch must certainly be a long term couple. It had nothing to do with the fact that neither of the women had husbands, or that Hooch was what one could term "butch." It had everything to do with the subtle ways in which they interacted. Although Hooch and Rosmerta were talking to each other in a way that seemed very intimate, they also appeared to be profoundly comfortable with one another. It was in the way that their fingers were just barely touching while their hands rested on the counter…the way that Rosmerta reached out to gently pick out a small orange leaf that had blown into Hooch's cropped hair…

Hermione was so touched by how loving the two women were that her gaze was frozen in their direction; she really could not take her eyes off of them. Lately, she had been feeling very cynical over whether it was possible for her to be in a long-lasting relationship. Ron had lost interest in her after only six months, and many of her classmates' relationships had been similarly short-lived. People split up and divorced every day, at a seemingly ever-increasing rate – so how was it that _any_ couple could keep their love going for years, even decades? And yet before her stood an example of two people who had managed to do just that. Sirius and Lupin had done it as well, she realized…even Sirius's twelve-year imprisonment and framing for murders he didn't commit had not destroyed their bond, because they resumed their relationship as soon as he was free. Only his death had wrenched them apart, and yet even now when she looked at Lupin she could tell that he still carried a part of Sirius with him. The realist in Hermione wanted to scoff at the idea of "soul mates" or "true love." And yet deep down, wasn't that exactly what she wanted? Wasn't it what everyone wanted, even if some would only admit it if they were force-fed Veritaserum?

After a minute or two Madam Rosmerta stopped talking to Hooch, and began walking towards Ginny and Hermione's table with two tall glasses of butterbeer in her hands. Hermione's eyes darted to the surface of the wooden table as Rosmerta set the glasses in front of them; for some reason, she felt deeply self-conscious and ashamed of the way she'd been staring;

"So what trouble have you two been getting into today, ladies?" said the barmaid. It was no longer as busy inside the pub, a large group having just trickled outside back into the October air, so she had time to chat with her customers like normal.

"We haven't been getting into any trouble today – I've been helping Hermione search for a new flat," Ginny explained. "She's going to graduate from Hogwarts early in December and move into Hogsmeade."

"Are you really?" cried Rosmerta, turning towards Hermione. She looked very impressed. "I've never known a Hogwarts student to graduate before June."

"Well, most Hogwarts students aren't bloody geniuses like our 'Mione," Ginny said. Hermione flushed crimson, feeling even more self-conscious.

"Indeed," said Rosmerta. "Have you had any luck yet in finding a flat?"

"Actually…" Hermione said, letting out a sardonic laugh. "We did stop at one…but it was an absolutely awful place. It was cramped and dark, and I just know that I would be miserable there. It was owned by a Mr. Bodley…"

"You don't mean Hugolf Bodley, right across the street?" Rosmerta cried. The girls nodded, and she went on, "Oh, then you were right not to take that place. I've had many a conversation with young witches and wizards who rented it, and it's as bad as you say and worse. It's not even worth how cheap it is. The hot water doesn't work half the time, and Bodley is the crotchetiest old man. He comes in here every so often; I don't like 'im. No, you can find something better, I'm sure. In fact…" She knitted her brows together, and then she abruptly turned back towards the bar and yelled, "Rolanda, darling! Come here a mo'!"

"What is it?" Madam Hooch called back, and she got off her barstool and walked towards Hermione and Ginny's table. Recognizing them as two of her former flying students (and Ginny as a Gryffindor Quidditch player), she said, "Oh hello, Miss Granger, Miss Weasley. Look, if you see Minvera McGonagall, say nothing to her about how many firewhiskeys I've had today. It's hard to say no when you get 'em for free."

"I'm sure these girls wouldn't say anything to Minerva about your drinking habits, Rolanda," Rosmerta laughed, casting a warm glance of affection on her partner. "I called you over here because Hermione's looking for a place to live in this village, and like the smart girl she is she's decided that her standards are too high to take the Bodley place. Didn't you say to me the other day that you knew of some people that were planning on renting the top of their store as a flat…?"

"Oh, yes, the Scrivenshafts!" Hooch said. Hermione raised an eyebrow in curiosity; Scrivenshaft's was the name of the quill shop further up on High Street where she had bought a beautiful black-and-gold pheasant quill in her fifth year. "Mrs. Scrivenshaft was telling me that she and her husband need to pull in some extra Galleons, so during Christmas they're going to be renovating the fourth floor of their shop and renting it out. They used to use that floor just for storage, she said, but they didn't have much storage up there anyway."

"Would…would you say that it would be a good place to live?" Hermione said uncertainly. After the disappointment that had been the Bodley flat, she was feeling a bit cynical about her next prospects.

"Well, I don't know what the flat would look like," Hooch said, "but I do know that the Scrivenshafts are some of the warmest, friendliest people I know. Mrs. Scrivenshaft is an especially lovely woman – you'd love her, Miss Granger. I can't imagine that they'd be bad landlords."

"Why don't you go over there today and talk to them about it?" Rosmerta suggested. "They'll be chuffed that someone's already interested in their flat, as they haven't had time to advertise yet."

"I guess I don't see why not," Hermione said, feeling a bit more optimistic. "After all, it can't get much worse after the Bodley place, can it?"

"Oh, don't say that, you'll jinx it!" Ginny laughed. Rosmerta shook her head, and said,

"There's no way she can jinx it. Rolanda's right, the Scrivenshafts are wonderful." She paused, and then added with a flicker of impishness in her eyes, "Wasn't there more to it, luv?"

"Do you mean...?" Hooch said. "Oh, well, yes. I think Mr. Scrivenshaft also said something about changing the shop's merchandise, and turning it into a bookstore as well…"

Hermione nearly choked on her drink. She set her glass down on the table with a _thud_, and turned towards her red-haired friend. Excitement was rising in her, the most excitement she had felt in a very long time.

"Hermione, you could live in a bookstore!" Ginny exclaimed. Hermione grinned, and said,

"Gin, finish up your butterbeer. We're going over to Scrivenshaft's."

* * *

**A/N:** Well, I think I more than made up for how short the last chapter was, LOL. This chapter was originally going to be even longer – but once it reached about ten pages on my computer, I realized I needed to break it up into two. I actually think this is my best chapter so far (if I'm allowed to toot my own horn like that). I made sure to include a lot of description, because the previous ones contained mostly dialogue.

In the next chapter we'll see Hermione and Ginny looking at the Scrivenshaft place, and more.

Thanks again to my wonderful reviewers! Without you I would never have gotten this far on this fic.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"I don't know if I can quite believe this," Hermione said breathlessly as she and Ginny dashed up High Street towards Scrivenshaft's. "It sounds _way_ too good to be true."

"That's exactly why I think it will work out, Hermione," Ginny cried. "Look, you've just had a really shitty summer and first month of school. Not only do you absolutely deserve to live above a bookstore in Hogsmeade, but I don't believe that your life can go _that_ long without something good happening to you for once. Sometimes really amazing things do happen."

"I hope so. It'll be so disappointing if it turns out not to be as great as Hooch and Rosmerta made it out to be…"

"Well, if that's the case then we'll just have to keep on looking, won't we?"

It was only a couple of minutes before the girls reached the quill shop. Hermione hadn't set foot in it since she bought her pheasant quill there almost exactly two years before, but the outside of it still looked the same. It was a four-storey cottage with the words "Scrivenshaft's: Makers of Fine Quills and Stationary Since 1605" engraved in a loopy, ornate script next to an etching of a quill pen on the wooden shop sign. Hoping that the owners wouldn't be too busy so that she would get a chance to talk to them about the flat, Hermione pushed through the front door; Ginny followed close behind.

The inside of the shop reminded her a little bit of Olivander's wand shop in Diagon Alley, with hundreds of quills inside little wooden boxes which were stacked on shelves on every wall of the shop. A few other quills were displayed prominently on the front counter. Fortunately, only a couple other customers were perusing the shelves, so when Hermione and Ginny walked in the woman at the front of the counter immediately asked them,

"Hello ladies, may we help you?"

"Actually, yes, you can," Hermione said. "Are you Mrs. Scrivenshaft?"

"I am."

"I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione tried to sound as professional and grown-up as possible as she introduced herself. "I'm not here to buy a quill today, even though I have before and it was lovely. I'm here because I'm looking for a flat. Madam Rosmerta at The Three Broomsticks said that you would have one available above your shop after the winter holidays?"

"Why…why yes, that's true," said Mrs. Scrivenshaft in a surprised voice. "I guess Rolanda Hooch must have told her. I asked Rolanda to spread the word for us, but I had no idea it would go through the grape vine so quickly. How wonderful that you're interested!" She paused, looking a bit flustered, and then continued, "You'll have to forgive me – I didn't expect anyone to come asking about the flat for quite awhile. It's nowhere near finished, and we haven't advertised yet…would you be all right with not being able to move in for a few months?"

"That would actually be perfect. I'm leaving Hogwarts in December, so I wouldn't be able to move in until after then." Hermione began to gain a little more confidence as found herself already liking Mrs. Scrivenshaft, just as Hooch and Rosmerta said she would. Mrs. Scrivenshaft was a relatively short woman with graying brown hair cut short in a layered, feathered style that reminded Hermione of Princess Diana's. She also had a kind face and one of the softest, pleasantest speaking voices that Hermione had ever heard, with a gentle West Midlands accent. "Is there any way my friend and I could look at the flat today?" Hermione continued. "I understand it's not finished, but I'd at least like to see how big it is."

"Of course. Just give me one moment while I fetch my husband." Mrs. Scrivenshaft disappeared up a staircase next to the counter. While they waited, Ginny clutched Hermione's arm and whispered,

"Wow, she seems really nice."

"She does," Hermione admitted. "And the weird thing is, it's not even anything she's said that makes her seem so nice – she just seems so…pleasant. She's a far cry from Mr. Bodley, that's for sure." After a pause, she added, "I'm not really getting my hopes up until I see the flat and find out how much it'll cost, though."

A minute or so later Mrs. Scrivenshaft came down the stairs with a wizard whom Hermione guessed must be Mr. Scrivenshaft, the man whose family had been running the shop for almost four hundred years. Like his wife, he was short of stature; he also had very short grey hair and a stocky build.

"Hullo, Miss…Granger, is it? I'm Mr. Scrivenshaft," he said in the same gentle accent, reaching out to shake Hermione's hand. "My wife just told me that you two girls are asking about the flat – or perhaps I should say, the _theoretical_ flat, as it's still a storage space for now. Hopefully by January, it will no longer be a theoretical flat and it will be a real one instead. We only decided to rent it out three weeks ago."

Hermione found herself smiling at the humor in his tone of voice, and then explained, "Well, it's just me asking, really. My friend Ginny has just been helping me scope out flats today. I'm sorry to come by before it's all prepared."

"No, no, it's all right by us. I just hope you won't be turned off by its being rough around the edges for now. We had grand plans to wallpaper it, and do a few more renovations…and there's still some boxes lying about…but would you like to come up and see it anyway?"

Hermione nodded, and so she and Ginny followed the Scrivenshafts up the same narrow, creaky staircase. Once they reached the fourth landing, there was a small corridor, at the end of which was a wooden door painted white. Mr. Scrivenshaft searched through the pocket of his robes and pulled out a metal ring of about ten jangly keys, one of which he used to unlock the door.

It opened to reveal a single room – but what a large room it was. It was about three times the size of Hermione's bedroom at her parents' house, and since she was an only child, her room at home wasn't exactly small either. A few large cardboard boxes and filing cabinets sat upon the hardwood floor, but other than that, it was empty. Hermione understood now why the Scrivenshafts felt the need to rent out the room; they clearly weren't doing much with it now.

Although the room was unlit, and the black wood burning stove in the corner was devoid of any fire (making it somewhat chilly inside), the room wasn't dark. What impressed Hermione the most were the windows. Two of the walls had smaller, three-by-five feet windows, but the other two walls (which faced each other) had windows so enormous they stretched across three-quarters of the wall. An absolutely magnificent amount of sunlight filled the huge space; sunlight that fell warmly upon Hermione's face and gleamed in her bushy brown hair. _Sunlight_, Hermione thought to herself, feeling as though she had to catch her breath. _God, I love sunlight…_

"I know there's not much to it now," she heard Mrs. Scrivenshaft say, "but we're going to section part of it off to create another room for the toilet and bath. We didn't have plans to create a kitchen on this floor, but if you like, you can use our kitchen on the third floor or we can include meals in the cost of your rent – my husband and I love to cook."

"That would be lovely," Hermione said softly. "How much is the rent? And would I have to bring my own furniture?"

"Rent will be about forty galleons a month," Mr. Scrivenshaft replied. Hermione considered; forty galleons was about two hundred pounds, which wasn't bad at all. It was definitely cheaper than anything she'd find if she tried to live in London or another expensive city. "As for furniture, we might have a few spare pieces we could let you use. Our own son recently moved out, and I think we have an old nightstand and a few other things of his in the attic. His name's Aubrey, by the way; he's twenty and he helps out in the shop sometimes, so I'm sure you'll meet him eventually. That is, if you choose to take the flat."

Hermione nodded noncommittally, not sure what to say. The room was so bare, and as of yet it had so little facilities…it was a risky thing to take a flat that was so unfinished…yet she got such good vibes from the Scrivenshafts, and from the room itself, that she didn't want to say no either. She could only imagine how lovely the room would look once the walls had some wallpaper, and once she got her bookshelves set up…

That thought suddenly reminded her of what Hooch and Rosmerta had said back at The Three Broomsticks, the thing that had interested her in the flat in the first place.

"This is somewhat unrelated," Hermione said hesitantly, "but Madam Hooch said to me that you were changing the store, and selling books as well as quills and stationary…?"

Mr. Scrivenshaft smiled warmly. "That's another of our grand plans that, with luck, will happen sooner rather than later. It's absurd that there's no bookstore in Hogsmeade, and we figured it might be easier for students to buy their books here when they arrive for school than to get them in Diagon Alley. Plus it will bring in some extra money for us."

"It will probably be another half a year before we're selling books, though – there's so much we have to do first," Mrs. Scrivenshaft added. "Do you like to read, Miss Granger?"

"Oh, does she!" Ginny suddenly spoke up. "That's the main reason she wanted to check out the flat. She's the biggest bookworm at Hogwarts – if she lived here and you started selling books, she'd never leave this building."

Instead of looking at Hermione strangely, as Hermione briefly feared would happen, the Scrivenshafts chuckled good-naturedly at Ginny's comment.

"Well, it would be nice to have a tenant who's intelligent and an avid reader," Mrs. Scrivenshaft said. "But I hope we can convince you to take the flat regardless. You're the first person who's asked about it, but you seem like a rather nice – and, hopefully, responsible – girl. And if Rolanda and Rosmerta like you enough to point you our way, then that's good enough for us."

"I…I think I'd like to take the flat," Hermione said slowly. "But is there any way I could wait to sign the final documents until I see some of the work you've done on it? I don't know if I should make any final decisions today."

"That would be fine – it's perfectly understandable why you'd want to wait," Mr. Scrivenshaft nodded. "Why don't you come back next month? We should at least have it wall-papered by then and have all of the boxes moved out. Then all we'll have to do is construct the bathroom, which I assure you will be as nice as we can make it."

"All right," Hermione agreed. She glanced towards Ginny; her friend's opinion mattered so much to her that she wanted to glean how Ginny felt about it before she made any decisions. The pale yellow October sun was reflecting off of the younger girl's red hair, creating something of a halo around her head. A small smile played about her lips and her brown eyes looked wide with optimism, which was a good sign; if Ginny had been making the same face she'd made at the Bodley face, it would be an indication to Hermione that she should rush out of there faster than Umbridge being chased by a centaur. Ginny was always so much more vocal about what she did and didn't like, unlike Hermione, who had a tendency to be more passive. Hermione admired her friend's forthrightness, and often wished she could be more like that herself.

After Mr. and Mrs. Scrivenshaft showed the girls out (before which Mrs. Scrivenshaft offered them a cup of tea, which they politely declined), Hermione turned toward her friend. "So," she said, "what did you think?"

"Well, it's a shame that it won't become a bookstore until several months after you move in," Ginny smirked, "but other than that, I think it would be a great place for you to live."

"You do?"

"Yeah. I mean, that one room is bigger than the entire flat we looked at before! And it's not too expensive, and they'll cook for you. And it's so sunny, which I know is really important to you…and…" Ginny hesitated, and looked down at her feet as if she were embarrassed about something.

"What?" Hermione said curiously, tugging gently at Ginny's arm.

"Well, this may sound weird," Ginny said, looking back up at Hermione, "but something about it just felt like home to me. It not only seemed like the kind of place _you'd_ really like when it's finished, but I also felt like it was the kind of place I'd love to come and stay at whenever I visit you."

Hermione smiled, touched. "That doesn't sound weird, Gin – it just makes me feel even better about it than I did before. I'll make sure to get a futon or something just for you."

Ginny opened her mouth wide and gasped, pretending to be offended. "You'll make me sleep on a futon? And you'll take that entire queen-sized bed you sleep on at your parents' house to yourself? Thanks a lot, Hermione!"

Hermione smacked her arm playfully. "Hey, I'm only looking out for you! Remember when we shared your bed two summers ago at the Burrow? You always accused me of hogging all the blankets."

"You do," Ginny grinned. "Actually, sleeping on a futon sounds really good compared to that. And now that you mention it, I think you kick in your sleep as well…there was that huge bruise on my thigh that I woke up with that summer…"

"I do _not_ kick! You got that bruise from playing Quidditch, Ginevra!" Another playful smack from Hermione.

On their way back to the castle, the girls stopped at Honeydukes for some of the candy shop's home-made fudge. As they stood outside the shop, taking in the autumn scenery and enjoying their sweets, Hermione suddenly said,

"Thanks for coming with me today, Gin."

"Of course! 'Mione, you know I'm glad to. I may not have been wild about the idea of you leaving me after the winter holidays, but I'm getting used to it. Besides, I want you to be happy. If I can help you find a flat that you'll be comfortable living in while you're apprenticing for McGonagall or saving the world or whatever amazing things you'll be doing after you graduate…well, then I guess I'll have done my duty as a friend."

"You already have. You _always_ have," Hermione said softly. A moment later she added, in a strangely shy tone, "There was something I've been wanting to ask you…last week when I told you I was going to try to graduate early, you said that no one else has seen as well as you have how much I've been hurting…what did you mean by that exactly?"

Ginny flushed, which surprised Hermione; though Ginny sometimes got embarrassed, she had rarely blushed since she was a child with a crush on Harry Potter.

"I guess I meant that I noticed all these subtle changes in you after Ron broke up with you. Like those worry lines that have started to appear on your forehead, there," and Ginny reached out and gently touched Hermione's forehead. "And the way you didn't seem to be…_at peace_ anymore, you always seemed on edge and didn't laugh anywhere near as much as you used to. The way you were always too tired to hang out outside of class because you never got enough sleep…the way you obviously hated leaving the Common Room at night because it would mean you'd have to see Lavender when you went to your dorm…the way it's been harder for you to produce your Patronus in Defence Against the Dark Arts…I don't know, it was a bunch of little things. Things that even Harry hasn't really seen, I don't think. I'm not saying I'm that much more observant than anyone else – but it's made me really angry that everyone else has been so wrapped up in their own lives that they haven't seen these things, even though they claim to feel sorry for you."

Hermione simply stared at Ginny; she was at a complete loss for words. Suddenly finding out that someone else had seen her quiet suffering, and been sensitive to all the burdens that she thought she alone was bearing, was no small shock. It also made her ache to realize how much Ginny obviously cared about her – more than Hermione had ever thought the other girl would care about her.

So, because Hermione could not come up with the words, she did the only other thing she could think to do: she stepped forward and enveloped Ginny in a swift, tight hug.

"Th-thanks, Gin," she said in a trembling voice, resting her head on her friend's shoulder. "You don't have any idea how much it means to me to hear you say that."

"Of course I do. Silly girl, didn't I tell you that I notice these things?" As the girls pulled apart, Ginny smiled at Hermione, trying to make her smile back; it worked.

"You know, Ginny," said Hermione, who suddenly was in the mood to be completely honest, "in the past few months, you've really become my best friend. Harry has been wonderful as well, especially when it first happened, but I think he's felt too caught in the middle between me and Ron to be as supportive as you have been – oddly enough, considering Ron's _your_ brother. And it's weird because honestly, I never thought you and I would become best friends. We always got along great, but we were…never that close, you know?"

"I know," Ginny said frankly. "As long as we _are_ being honest, I used to think you had a stick up your arse about certain things. No, don't look at me like that, Hermione!" she laughed. "You have to admit, you've loosened up considerably since I first met you. You're still a know-it-all – which, actually, is one of the things I really like about you – but I think we've both grown up in a way that has made us get along even better."

"That's true. And I used to think that you and I could never be that close because I was the bookworm type and you were the athletic Quidditch-obsessed type…which is, incidentally, the same kind of difference that existed between me and Ron that made me worry about whether we would actually be a compatible couple. I still remember what you said to me last year, about how I shouldn't act like I understand Quidditch because I'd only embarrass myself…"

"Yeah, but you and Ron were unsuited to each other in a lot of other ways," Ginny pointed out. "And I'm sorry I said that to you, Hermione. I don't mind that Quidditch isn't your thing, honestly. You're so smart that it makes up for it. Besides, I have loads of other people to obsess over Quidditch with."

The two girls walked back to Hogwarts in relative silence; a paradoxical sense of comfort and uneasiness hung in the air between them, as if they realized that they were getting closer but didn't know quite what to do about it because their deeper friendship was all so new and unexpected. Hermione tried to brush the uneasiness out of her mind by telling herself that when she got back to the castle, she wouldn't be able to wait to tell Harry about hers and Ginny's adventures in flat-hunting.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry it's taken me so long to update. Since I wrote and posted the last chapter, I've begun a full-time job and moved into a new apartment, so I didn't have as much time or energy to devote to the fic as I used to have. But I've finally written the seventh chapter, and the eighth should be coming before too long!

One more note: the character traits and physical descriptions of Mr. and Mrs. Scrivenshaft in this chapter are based on that of a middle-aged couple who ran a bed-and-breakfast where I stayed in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, this past summer. They were just such a sweet couple that I had to pay tribute to them in my fic. :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

"You've already found a place to live?!" The look on Harry's face was so incredulous it almost made Hermione laugh. "Jeez. If I didn't know any better, I'd almost think you two were magic or something."

At dusk after that long day in Hogsmeade, Harry, Hermione and Ginny were sitting outside on stone benches on the Hogwarts grounds, waiting until the last sliver of sunlight faded away and they were forced to go back inside.

"We were just incredibly lucky, is all," Hermione said. "Although I have to give Ginny credit…if she hadn't been fancying an illegal firewhiskey" – she turned to the other girl with a teasing glance of reproof – "we might never have gone inside the Three Broomsticks and found out about the new flat above Scrivenshaft's." She proceeded to tell Harry in detail the events of the day. "So I haven't _officially _found a flat," she finished off, "since it's not ready yet and I haven't signed any papers, but I don't think I'll find a place I'd rather live in."

"You should keep looking, though, just in case it doesn't work out," Harry suggested. "We don't want to see you homeless at the end of the holidays."

Hermione nodded. "I know, I thought about that too. But I feel really good about this for some reason. Not just because it seems like a wonderful place to live and the landlords are friendly…but I dunno. It just feels like things are about to finally start going well in my life again."

"Well, you know that you'll always have me and Ginny, no matter how good or bad things are. And we'll be at your beck and call if you need help moving. By the way, have you told your parents about all this yet?"

"No," said Hermione, biting her lip. "I tried writing them a letter the other day, but I didn't get very far. I think they thought that when I graduated, I'd immediately come home and move back in with them…but I've never had any intention of doing that. They still see me as their little girl. I don't know how they'll take it when I tell them that after Christmas, I'm going to be on my own, starting my adult life – and in the wizarding world, at that."

"But they've always been supportive of you being a witch, haven't they?" Ginny asked. "And they've always been very proud of you. Maybe when you write them you should emphasize not that you'll be leaving, but that you're so accomplished for being able to leave school early and with such high marks. Remind them that they'll have a graduation to celebrate soon, and maybe they won't worry so much about you living in Hogsmeade afterwards."

"Not a bad idea, but I'm not sure if it'll work. They've been supportive of me being a witch, but I think they expected me to return to the Muggle world after school. My parents and I have been growing further and further apart the longer I've been at Hogwarts...I'm afraid that after I tell them, it'll only get worse," and Hermione stared down at the leaf-scattered grass with sad eyes. In the distance, the haunting sound of a nightingale singing its last song of the evening rang out.

"But it's your life," Ginny said simply, wrapping an arm around Hermione's shoulders. "My mum cried when Bill moved all the way to Egypt and when Charlie went to Romania. And don't forget how she reacted when Bill got engaged to Fleur. But in the end, she couldn't force them to stay closer to home or marry someone more 'suitable,' or even really express her displeasure over it, because she knew she had to let them make their own choices. I don't know a lot about your parents, Hermione, but if they were supportive enough to let you go to a wizarding school in Scotland, then I can only hope that they'll act the same way my parents did when their kids grew up. Maybe they'll never understand or like your choices, but they have to let you make them."

"You're right, as usual, Gin," Hermione sighed. "All right…I'll try to write to them again tomorrow." A strong, chilly gust of autumn wind suddenly blew through the trees and right past them, causing Hermione to shiver. "It's getting cold and dark out here – let's go inside. I've got loads of studying to do, anyway."

* * *

Hours later, Hermione lay curled up on her soft mattress in the seventh year Gryffindor girls' dormitory, slowly drifting off to sleep. It had been a good day, she mused with the last of her consciousness. Not only had she more or less found a flat, and later that night spent several hours studying hard for her N.E.W.T.s – but she'd also shared some amazing bonding time with Ginny, whom she was beginning to like more and more as time went on. No, she didn't just like Ginny anymore…she loved her just as much as she loved her other friends with whom she'd been closer in the past. Ginny's optimistic attitude, steadfast encouragement, and wicked sense of humor had lifted Hermione's spirits during the past few months in ways she hadn't thought possible. The two girls were very different from one another in several significant ways, but those differences brought about respect and admiration between them, not antagonism. Hermione found herself looking forward to having Ginny over at her new flat, when the two girls would finally be able to hang out alone together.

Hermione was falling almost completely asleep - and had, in fact, already begun to dream that she was moving into the Scrivenshaft's only to find an enormous, full-grown African elephant in her room ("Sorry, he comes with the place, we thought you knew that," Mrs. Scrivenshaft said in the dream, to Hermione's horror). But then she was brought abruptly back into consciousness by the sound of the door to the dormitory opening and then slamming shut, and then the unmistakable giggles of her roommates.

"Okay, what did you want to tell me that you couldn't tell me in the Common Room?" Parvati said in a harsh whisper. Hermione groaned and pulled her feather pillow over her head, cursing Parvati and Lavender to the fieriest of imaginable Hells. Why did the girls _always_ have to bother her with their obnoxious gossiping and snickering, especially when she was trying to study or sleep? Hermione was just a moment away from drawing aside her bed curtains and telling her roommates to shut the hell up when she heard Lavender reply,

"Oh, nothing…except…" She paused, and then tittered, "Guess who lost her virginity tonight!"

Hermione shot up in bed. If she hadn't been awake before, she certainly was now. Her heart pounded hard against her chest as she strained her ears to listen for Parvati's reply.

"No way!" Parvati exclaimed, her voice full of awe. "With who?"

"Oh, c'mon, who do you think?" Another obnoxious giggle from Lavender.

"Oh wow, so…how was it? C'mon, Lav, you have to tell me the details!"

"It wasn't too bad. It did hurt a bit…but he seemed like he knew what he was doing, so it wasn't as awkward as it could have been."

Hermione couldn't listen to this anymore; hot tears had already begun to fall from her eyes and sting her cheeks, although she tried hard not to let out an audible sob. In the brief period that she and Ron had dated, they'd never slept together. She remembered several times when their snogging sessions had become very intense, but they'd always stopped before it could go any further than that, having already admitted to each other that neither of them was ready for sex yet. "When we do it, I want us to be _truly_ ready, Hermione," Ron had said, with such tenderness that it had made Hermione's heart melt at the time. Now he had thrown away that experience (an experience that should have been _hers, _dammit) on a ditz like Lavender Brown - and had possibly slept with other girls before, if Lavender's pronouncement that "he knew what he was doing" was correct.

With a trembling hand, Hermione pulled her wand out from under her pillow, pointed it in front of her, and whispered an incantation that would block out all sound that came from beyond her closed bed curtains. She certainly didn't want to hear Lavender go on about what kind of lover Ron was. It took all her strength to lie silently in bed until her roommates went to sleep, but once she drew back her curtain a crack and saw that their eyes were closed, she lifted the charm and tumbled out of her bed so fast she got her foot caught in her sheets in the process. There was only one place she could think of to go, one place where she could possibly get comfort during this hour of need.

Still choking back sobs, she stumbled out of her dorm and went running towards the room down at the end of the hall where the sixth year Gryffindor girls resided. Leaning against the door, she knocked on it and whimpered,

"Ginny? Gin, it's Hermione…if you're awake, please let me in…please…"

She knocked again. A moment later she heard the shuffling of bed curtains, the thudding of feet against the floor, and then the sound of someone turning the lock. She stepped back, and with a loud _creak_ the door opened. There stood Ginny clad in her pyjamas – her long ginger hair hanging loosely and wildly about her shoulders (and still somewhat crimped from having been in braids all day), and her eyes and open mouth wide with astonishment.

"Hermione…what – what's wrong?" she stammered, taking in Hermione's own disheveled appearance and red, tear-stained face. Unable to speak because her throat hurt so much from holding back her sobs, Hermione merely shook her head, and then collapsed in Ginny's arms.

For a couple minutes Ginny just stood quietly in the same spot, saying nothing but whispered words of comfort such as, "Ssshhh, 'Mione, it's okay…I'm here…that's it, just let it out…", and stroking Hermione's hair as the latter girl bawled and wet Ginny's shoulder with her tears. Finally she led Hermione over to her bed, where the two of them sat down on the edge of the mattress and Hermione's weeping and hyperventilating finally began to lessen. Thankfully Ginny's roommates must have been out somewhere, because the two girls were alone.

"What happened?" Ginny asked gently. Hermione wiped her eyes and her nose with her sleeve, and finally said in a quivering voice,

"Ron slept with Lavender. I-I just overheard her telling Parvati about it in our dorm."

Ginny's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me. And you and Ron…did you two ever…?"

"No, we never did. I always thought it would be something we'd share together, that he'd be my first and I'd be his…" Hermione's voice broke with emotion again. "And he might have done it with other girls before Lavender…" She went on to tell Ginny about the comment Lavender had made about Ron's sexual experience. At that, Ginny's hands tightened themselves into fists, and she stood up off of the bed and began pacing around the room.

"I'll kill him," she seethed, her jaw clenched and her honey-brown eyes wild with fury. "I'll _fucking_ kill him…I'm gonna go to his dorm and make him pay for it right now-" She grabbed her wand from off her nightstand.

"Ginny, NO!" Hermione reached out and grabbed Ginny's sleeve. "Please don't -I don't want you to say anything to him or anyone else about it!"

"Why?!" Ginny yelled, spinning around and giving an expression of such intense anger it almost frightened Hermione. "You've been too kind to him already, and now he's slept with that…that brain-dead bitch! Why the hell shouldn't he get what's coming to him? After all he's done to you!"

_"Because I'm tired of being a victim!"_

This made Ginny stopped pacing, and she stared at Hermione with a look of shock. Fresh tears fell from Hermione's eyes again as she cried out,

"I'm tired of being a victim, Ginny. You've been wonderfully supportive of me throughout all of it, but I just want it to be _over!_ Not a single day goes by without me thinking about him, or without someone mentioning what he did. You say that all these people feel sorry for me, or claim to, but I don't _want_ them to feel sorry for me anymore! If everyone knows about Ron sleeping with Lavender, I'll _never_ be able to put it out of my mind, never be anything but that poor, nice girl who was dumped by her ex-boyfriend. I'm tired of people looking at me that way. I just want to move on with my life, and not have all my days filled with Ron, Ron, _and more bloody Ron!"_

An uncomfortable silence hung in the air for the next few seconds, during which the girls didn't look at each other and Ginny made no move to go hex her brother. For once, she seemed to give into Hermione's rational mind instead of impulsively acting on her emotions. Hermione sat back down on the bed and covered her face in her hands, shaking.

"God, I'm so tired," she whispered. "I just want to go to sleep…I'm sorry, Ginny, I shouldn't have come here and woken you up…"

"Hermione, it's fine," Ginny said quietly. She set her wand back down on top of the nightstand. "I'm sorry I flew off the handle and upset you like that."

"Can I spend the night here with you? I don't want to go back to my dorm…I couldn't bear to see Lavender after this…"

"Of course you can. C'mon, let's just go to sleep." Ginny drew back the comforter on her bed, and she held Hermione's hand as the trembling girl crawled beneath the soft sheets and blankets. Seeing that Hermione was still breathing short, shallow breaths, Ginny crept in close behind her and wrapped her arms around Hermione's slender waist.

"It'll be okay, Hermione," Ginny whispered softly. "You're not a victim. You're an amazing woman. You're going to pass your N.E.W.T.s and live in Hogsmeade, and get a job, and there's not going to be anything you can't do."

One last, small sob wracked Hermione's body before she finally began to take deeper breaths, and she said faintly in an exhausted voice, "I love you, Gin. You're my best friend." And then she suddenly turned around, revealing a sleepy, damp face, and gave Ginny a quick kiss on the cheek. At least, she'd aimed for the cheek – in her tiredness, she'd inadvertently brushed against Ginny's mouth as well. Then she turned so that her back was against Ginny's stomach again, and grew silent; within seconds, she was already asleep.

Ginny loosened one of her arms from underneath Hermione's body and touched her face where the other girl had kissed her; it was wet from Hermione's tears. It had been innocent enough – lots of girls gave their friends pecks on the cheek and such. Yet Ginny knew that this kiss meant something significant, that they'd crossed some sort of line, and after tonight their friendship would never be the same as it had been in years past. She didn't know what to think of the way the bond between her and Hermione was growing deeper and more intense every day, and that out of seemingly nowhere she'd grown to care for the older girl as much as her own flesh. She did know, however, that it was happening – and it was something that she could neither stop nor change.

* * *

**A/N:** Hope you all liked the new development in this chapter. ;) Thanks as always for reading, and for your lovely reviews!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**A/N**: Sorry it's taken me months and months to get this chapter up. For a while I'd simply lost interest in it, but then I started an original novel, and that's been taking up almost all my writing time for the past seventh months or so. So many people have been writing me reviews begging me to continue this fic, however, that I decided I'd scurry to finish chapter nine, even if it's short or not as good as the previous chapters. When it comes to fanfiction, something is better than nothing, right?

I make no promises as to when Chapter 10 will be up, but I hope you like this one!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

The shock that Hermione had gotten about Ron and Lavender seemed to give her even more of the drive and determination she needed to pass her N.E.W.T.s. Over the next couple of months, she studied harder than ever -- holing herself up in the library for hours at a time, making flash cards of spells and potions she'd need to memorize, and going over the notes she'd kept for her classes over the past six years.

"Look how child-like my handwriting was first year!" she exclaimed to Ginny one evening in November while the latter girl was helping her study. "God...it seems so long ago, and yet it doesn't, at the same time...it's hard to believe that we were eleven when we got here, and now we're all adults."

"Well, some of us are adults," Ginny said, smiling weakly. "Others have to wait a year before we can call ourselves that."

Hermione frowned. "Gin...you're not still upset about me leaving, are you? Please tell me if you are."

"No, no, I'm doing all right with that," Ginny said quickly. "I just...I know it sounds silly, but a lot of times I wish I could have been in your year. Nearly all my friends, except for Luna of course, are in your year anyway. Then I wouldn't have to spend so long still being a kid at Hogwarts, waiting until I can graduate and join all of you in the 'real world.'"

Hermione laughed a little. "That's very sweet, but you should enjoy your time in school while you still can. Lately I've been worried that the 'real world' may not be all it's cracked up to be. Who knows, maybe before long I'll get tired of my job and be itching to go to university just so I can be in school again."

"As long as it's a university that's not too far from me, then I have no complaints."

"Don't worry. No matter how far away I travel, I fully plan on shrinking you so I can keep you in a little bottle in my pocket and take you wherever I go," Hermione said, smirking mischievously. "I'll call it my Gin Bottle, and all my colleagues will think that I'm some terrible drunk. But I won't care because at least I've got my best friend with me."

The thought of herself shrunken inside a tiny bottle in Hermione's pocket, and of Hermione being viewed as a drunk, made Ginny lean back in her chair and laugh so hard she snorted; she had to clasp her hand over her mouth to prevent inciting the wrath of Madame Pince. Merlin, it made her so happy to see that her friend had her old sense of humor back.

As Hermione changed the subject back to her notes, Ginny held her friend's gaze and tried her best to appear as though she was fully engrossed in what Hermione was saying about the ancient Runic alphabet. But in all honesty, her mind had drifted back to that scene that she couldn't stop replaying in her head...the night that Hermione had come crying to her bedroom, and kissed her on the mouth...

Ginny had spent a lot of time thinking about that night since it had happened. She had realized that what Hermione had said was completely right: as much as she cared about the older girl, she had to stop viewing Hermione as a victim and allow her to fight her own battles. But what weighed far more heavily on Ginny's mind was this strange, new realization: whenever she thought about Hermione accidentally kissing her on the lips, she found herself wishing, with a longing that had never ached so hard in her before, that she'd kissed her back.

The fact that she was attracted to girls was nothing new to Ginny. Since she was about twelve years old, she'd caught herself casting lingering glances upon the curvy bodies and pretty faces of her schoolmates, and she knew that what she felt was not merely admiration or envy but desire. Desire to do _what_, exactly, she hadn't been sure, but it hadn't felt like a big deal to her. She'd known for a long time about the relationship between Madam Hooch and Madam Rosmerta, and she viewed the existence of same sex couples with the same matter-of-fact manner she viewed the relationship between her own mother and father. And although she undoubtedly found certain girls attractive, she'd never met one that she actually wanted to be in a relationship with. All of her girl-crushes had stayed in the realm of the merely physical. That was why Ginny had never told anyone about this side of herself -- she wasn't ashamed of it, but she didn't think that it would ever be a significant factor in her life. She'd always felt, with a calm, complacent certainty, that she would have relationships only with boys and eventually marry a man, and that was that.

Her new-found deeper friendship with Hermione, and the kiss that Hermione gave her, had changed all of that.

Ginny didn't want to jump the gun and tell herself that she was in love with her. She honestly didn't know _what_ she was in, if she was _in_ anything at all. She just knew that her feelings for Hermione were stronger than the feelings she'd ever had for anyone else; Michael Corner and Dean Thomas had been fun to date (and fun to snog) for the few months she'd been with them, but she never deluded herself into thinking that she had any deep connection with them. Harry had gone from being her childhood crush to one of her best friends, but even when they both became available, she was surprised to find herself not at all jumping at the opportunity to date him like she undoubtedly would have three years ago. It was so strange; suddenly it was as if all those chills and butterflies she'd felt whenever she'd so much as glanced at him had melted away. And as for Hermione -- no, she'd never use any term as clichéd as "butterflies" to describe her feelings for her. Whenever Ginny sat beside Hermione, walked next to her or interacted with her in any way, she felt a kind of comfort and naturalness to the groove of them together. It was almost as if she and Hermione could be not only life-long friends, but also partners, in the truest sense of the word.

But how could they become partners in any sense now, when Hermione was leaving Hogwarts? There was _no_ doubt that she would pass her N.E.W.T.s, no matter how much she moaned "I'm going to fail!" during these late-night study sessions. And when she moved into Hogsmeade – or wherever it was she ended up – it would be harder for Ginny to see her. The girls could see one another on Hogsmeade weekends, of course, or during the holidays, but Ginny would no longer be able to come down to the Great Hall for dinner every night and be greeted by the sight of Hermione's warm smile and shock of bushy brown hair, blocking out the faces of all her other schoolmates.

"I'm so stupid, anyway," Ginny muttered to herself late that night after her roommates had gone to sleep. "As if she would be interested in me even if she _weren't_ graduating in another month. There's no way Hermione's even the slightest bit gay. If there was a 'Straightest Girl At Hogwarts' award, she'd win it. Besides, she's too busy pining over my idiotic brother to even think of dating anyone else. That kiss the other night was just an accident; there was nothing romantic about it. Face it, Ginevra Weasley. You have no chance with Hermione Granger. It's doomed. Doomed with, like, six O's. _Doooooomed_."

She brought her hand to her face to bitterly wipe away some tears as she suddenly realized exactly what she'd been feeling that summer day she'd stuck her wand in Ron's face and forced him to finally break things off with Hermione. She'd thought that she felt ashamed because she hadn't done enough to help her friend – but the truth was, she felt guilty because buried deep down she knew that _she _had feelings for the dark-haired girl, even then. And she couldn't help but wonder what her true motives were for encouraging the breakup. There was no doubt that it was an inevitability – Ron had somehow lost interest in his girlfriend a long time ago, the stupid prat – and it was the only way for him to stop putting Hermione through so much pain. But had Ginny, subconsciously, also wanted to the couple to split up so that she could have Hermione to herself? And if that was truly what she'd wanted, she had gotten her wish, in a way – because the girls had indeed become closer after the breakup. Close enough that Hermione had come knocking on Ginny's door late at night, begging to be comforted…and had slept in Ginny's bed with her arms snaked around her waist, and kissed her on the mouth...

It didn't matter. Whether Hermione was single or not, she would never be truly available to Ginny. Ginny would have to deal with it when the next inevitability happened, when Hermione finally got over Ron and started dating another man…probably someone older, sophisticated, good-looking and successful, that was the kind of person that Hermione deserved. Their profound friendship was all that Ginny could ever get out of the relationship, and that was better than nothing. She would have to learn to be content with that.

* * *

**A/N:** I know this chapter ends on a depressing note, but if you haven't figured it out already, it will get happier! Thanks to all my readers who have stuck by and kept up with this story, no matter how long it's been between updates.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten**

"Gin, I got a letter back from my parents!" Hermione waved the piece of paper frantically in front of Ginny's face.

"Oh, yeah? What'd they have to say?" Ginny said, immediately coming to her friend's side at an empty table in the Great Hall. Last week, Hermione had finally screwed up the courage to write to her parents and explain all the changes that would soon be taking place in her life. Her bitten-down nails were evidence of how nervous she'd been while she waited for their response, but finally that wait was over.

"I don't even know - I didn't read it yet. I wanted to wait until you were with me."

Ginny felt her heart flutter, and then ache, all at once. She'd lost track of how many times she'd experienced that paradoxical sensation since she'd admitted to herself that her feelings for Hermione had crossed the line from platonic into…something else. It touched her so deeply whenever she was presented with yet more evidence of how much Hermione cared for her, and how much she cared for Hermione in return. But it never stopped making her feel sad as well, since it seemed disappointingly likely that the two girls would never be together.

"Well, read it out loud, then," Ginny said in a down-to-business tone, trying to cover up her moment of near-swooning. Hermione took in a deep breath, and then started reading:

_Our dearest Hermione -_

_Naturally, we were quite surprised when we received your last letter. We had no idea that you would be graduating from school so soon. Neither did we have any inkling that you intended to stay in Scotland, close to Hogwarts. While we expected that you would want to find your own place to live after graduation, we wrongly assumed - or perhaps hoped - that your plans were to return to London. We have missed you terribly while you've been away at school, and the knowledge that our only child will not be coming home has been somewhat difficult for us to come to terms with._

"Uh oh," Hermione said, putting the letter down with shaking hands. "I don't know if I can keep reading this…"

"Oh, Hermione, you don't know what they're going to say next! C'mon, let me take over from here." Ginny gently took the letter from her friend and read on:

_That said, we are immensely proud of you. We're aware that you have always been a bright student. But the fact your headmaster and professors are allowing you to finish early, before anyone else in your class, proves just how hard you have worked - and how much you deserve to make your own happiness in whatever way you see fit._

_When you were first accepted into Hogwarts seven years ago, that was shocking enough for us; to know that our daughter would not only be going off to a school we never knew existed, but that she had the ability to perform magic and would be harvesting that talent. As you may remember, we deliberated for a long time whether it would be the right decision to have your schooling take place in a strange institution and community. We were worried about the consequences of you living in a world that is cut off and shrouded in secret from the rest of society. As Muggles (we still remember when you first taught us that word!), we weren't familiar with and couldn't properly relate to that world. And to be perfectly honest, we were afraid that if you became so deeply assimilated into that community of magical people, it might result in you becoming an outcast in the Muggle world. In considering all of the many aspects of the situation, we only wanted to determine what would be best for you._

_But you wanted to attend Hogwarts so badly - to the point that you all but begged us to let you go. And since you have been there you have flourished beautifully. When you came home on the holidays, we loved hearing you talk endlessly about all the people you'd met and all the new spells you'd learned in school that year. And for our part, we have tried to learn as much as we could about the community you've been living in. We wanted you to know that it is something that we accept and love about you, even if it is still so different from what we are used to._

_Now, our time for deciding what is best for you is at an end, and the only person who can make those decisions is yourself. You have told us that the wizarding world is where you want to say, and there is no good reason for us to try to dissuade you. Clearly, it's where you belong and where you find happiness. No matter what, Hermione, we only want you to be happy. All we ask is that you visit us when you can._

Hermione let out a very audible sigh of relief and rubbed her eyes with her hands. "Well, that's about the best response I could possibly hope to get," she said, smiling shakily.

"You're bloody right it is! See, they love you and everything's fine!" Ginny grinned, wrapping her arm around Hermione's shoulder. She was a little ashamed to admit it to herself, but she was grateful for these emotional moments that afforded her an excuse to embrace Hermione. The girls hugged all the time now, but Ginny could never get enough of it.

"I don't know what you were so worried about," Ginny continued. "You know they'd never disown you or anything."

"Well, of course not. I'm not sure what I was afraid of, exactly," Hermione admitted. "I guess I thought things might become awkward if they were disappointed in me. But obviously I don't have to worry about it anymore. Anyway, what does the rest of the letter say?"

_We're excited about attending your graduation in December, and about boasting to everyone we know about our girl's many accomplishments. And if you'd like, we'd love to throw a party for you at our home so you can celebrate with all of your friends. Feel free to invite Harry, Luna, Neville, and anyone else you'd like. Oh, and be sure to bring along your best friend Jenny that you've written to us so much about lately…isn't she Ron's sister? We think we've met her several times over the years at King's Cross, though we had no idea then that you girls were such close friends._

Ginny's eyes darted up from the letter to look into Hermione's face, which was…yes, the other girl's face was most certainly blushing.

"You write to your family about me?" Ginny said. She tried, she really did, but it was impossible to keep the surprised joy out of her voice.

"Well…I mean…of course," Hermione said, averting her eyes. "I've always written to them about my friends. And I spend more time these days with you than with anyone else, so naturally they know about you." Then she said quickly, "I'm sorry they misspelled your name, though - I promise I spelled it correctly in my letters."

"Hermione, you don't have to assure _me_ of that. And anyway, I don't think that would be a big deal to anyone but you."

"Of course it's a big deal! Jenny is an entirely different name than Ginny."

"It's touching that you realize that…and that you know that my full first name isn't Virginia," Ginny snorted. "But anyway, let me read the rest of this letter, there's more."

Still smiling gleefully to herself as she reveled in the fact that she'd been mentioned in Hermione's letters to her family,Ginny read on:

_We didn't mention inviting Ron because we don't know what terms you are on with the boy currently. We hated seeing how he hurt you and ignored you this past summer, but if the two of you are friends again and you want to invite him to the party, we will be just as welcoming and courteous to him as to everyone else. Please let us know soon if the party is something you'd like to do._

_And please tell us in your next letter how you are doing in terms of studying for your exams, and finding a flat and a job. And, as always, let us know if there's anything we can do to help. We are very happy for you as you begin this new stage in your life._

_Always,_

_Mum and Dad_

"Your parents seem unbelievably wonderful," Ginny said after she finished reading. "I'm surprised - didn't you say you'd been growing apart from them recently? From the way your parents are talking in this letter, it doesn't seem like that's a problem at all."

"Well, in the last few years, I wasn't sure if I could relate to them anymore," Hermione explained. "Mum and Dad always did make an effort to learn about magic, and they seemed genuinely interested, but I thought they could never fully _understand _it, you know? They haven't lived in this culture. So I guess their worries that I might become too integrated into the magical world kind of came true." She gazed thoughtfully off into the distance. "I guess those differences between us don't matter as much as I thought they did."

"I'm glad they responded so well," Ginny said, punctuating her remark by shamelessly hugging Hermione again. "Now we can move forward with that out of the way."

"_We_, Ginny?" Hermione repeated, smirking. "I didn't know we had reached 'we' status."

Ginny laughed nervously, and her heart thudded against her chest at the other girl's suggestive words. She honestly hadn't meant to say "we"…damn Freudian slip. Had she given herself away?

"You _have_ become extremely involved in my life decisions over the past few months," Hermione went on in the same joking tone. "I'll never be able to get rid of you, will I?"

"You know very well that you won't, 'Mione," Ginny replied, smiling in what she hoped was a charming manner. "I'll be with you every step of the way."

Hermione stepped back and looked at Ginny head-on with a newly serious look on her face. "And that's why I know I should never settle when it comes to choosing friends," she said. "Or when it comes to choosing anything, really. Especially when I know I've got people around who are as wonderful to me as you are."

"You're…not such a bad friend yourself." Ginny's tone was casual, but in her head she was repeating, over and over like a mantra: _Keep it together, Ginny_. _I know how much you want to kiss her right now, but that'd be a very, very bad idea. A hug you can probably get away with, but not a full-blown kiss in the middle of the Great Hall. Keep it together…_

Hermione grinned, and stuffed the letter from her parents into the pocket of her robes. "Want to help 'us' study for 'our' N.E.W.T.s later?"

"Maybe after Quidditch practice this afternoon - 'we' have to make sure that we kick Ravenclaw arse in the next match."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Recently Hermione had taken to watching in the stands when Ginny was practicing with the rest of the Quidditch team. Although she'd always attended the matches in the past, it was because she supported Gryffindor, not because she held any interest at all in the sport. If Harry or Ron had ever invited her to watch them practice, she would have given them a polite excuse for why she was too busy. She could only assume…no, she _knew_ that she would be bored out of her mind if she actually came. Fortunately, they never asked her - and neither, come to think of it, did Ginny. Hermione had started tagging along because of the simple fact that she wanted to be around Ginny all the time. Before, Hermione would have studied for her exam in the library while Ginny was at Quidditch practice, and the two girls would meet up afterward…but why shouldn't they kill two birds with one stone by having Hermione bring her notes with her to the pitch?

Of course, the other side of the coin was that Hermione was forced to see Ron at practice as well. She'd been keeping away from him as much as possible since that awful night she'd overheard Lavender brag to Parvati about sleeping with him. Her avoidance wasn't merely out of hurt or anger; she feared that if spoke to him, she might lose control of her emotions and make a scene. And Hermione Granger was steadfast in her determination to keep unnecessary drama out of her life. So when she sat in the stands she did her best to keep her eyes off of Ron, and she ignored any attempts he made to get her attention. Surely he must have noticed that the cold shoulder she'd been giving him since the beginning of the school year had recently plummeted to subzero temperatures. But so far he hadn't asked her why. Then again, perhaps he didn't really need to ask.

_How dare he even look at me?, _she thought furiously during one of the practices when Ron waved at her. She crossed her arms over her chest and refused to wave back. _He probably screwed Lavender again just last night. How can he know what he's doing and still try to be my friend? He should know fully well how hurtful it would be to me if I knew. I can't believe he thinks I __**don't**__ know. Once again he probably thinks I'm stupid, when __**he's**__ the stupid one…_And then she realized that her blood pressure had risen about ten points, and she was clutching her notes with her fingers so tightly that she was crumpling the parchment. _Calm yourself, Hermione Granger. You're going to give yourself an aneurysm, and then you'll never graduate. _She took a few deep breaths and snatched her gaze away from Ron towards Ginny.

Watching Ginny made all that awkwardness worth it. Hermione still could feign no excitement in listening to the team members discuss various game strategies, but at least when she glanced up over her notes, she was greeted by the sight of Ginny soaring through the air on her broom with her long red hair streaming behind her. Hermione understood that Ginny was truly in her element when she was on the Quidditch pitch. It was the place where the younger girl was the most confident, passionate, and full of life, and Hermione couldn't deny that it was a thing of beauty to behold. An unfamiliar observer would have assumed that the red-haired Chaser was the captain of the team, from the way she was constantly shouting out suggestions to the other players and refusing to hold back her opinions. Hermione still often wished that she could emulate Ginny's outspoken, take-no-shit attitude. Maybe if she kept hanging around her, it would rub off. Not that she needed a fiftieth good reason to keep hanging around Ginny, or that she was in any danger of stopping.

* * *

In the same week that Hermione received the letter from her parents, an owl dropped into her hands yet another message containing good news.

"Mr. and Mrs. Scrivenshaft wrote to me - they've already finished cleaning up and renovating the flat above their shop," she reported to Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna. Although she had been only casual friends with Luna and Neville in previous years, they'd recently joined her core group with whom she felt most comfortable confiding. They had been there for her a lot in the past few months, and they'd helped to fill the void inside her that Ron's friendship had left.

"Brilliant! So when does it become official?" Harry asked.

"Very soon, I think. They said I can come back anytime and look at the flat, and if it's what I still want, I can sign the lease right then and there."

"You know, they never even advertised," said Ginny. "I've looked, and there's been nothing at all in the ad section of _The Daily Prophet_about the place above Scrivenshaft's. Are they really not taking any other applicants?"

"Well…" Hermione averted her eyes. She was afraid that what she was about to say would sound terribly un-modest. "They told me that based on how well I got on with them when we met, and the 'glowing recommendations' that they received from Madame Rosmerta, Madame Hooch, and Professor McGonagall - they're not considering renting to anyone else."

All at once, her friends congratulated her and patted her on the back.

"You absolutely deserve this, Hermione," Ginny said, hoping that she didn't have to convince her friend of that fact.

"But before you move in, you must let me inspect your flat for Nargle and Wrackspurt infestations," Luna interjected.

"And you should let us help you move your stuff in, too, when the time comes," Neville piped up, in that sweet way that was so typically him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw him discreetly grab hold of Luna's hand. The Ravenclaw girl and the Gryffindor boy hadn't breathed a word to any of their friends yet, but it was obvious that something had recently started blossoming between them. Hermione was thrilled for Neville and Luna, even as she still mourned what she had lost with Ron. The more of her friends who were in happy relationships, the better. And it gave her hope that she too might someday find that happiness for herself. As wounded as she still was by her own disappointments in love, she was trying her best not to be cynical about other couples' chances.

"That's all very kind of you all," Hermione smiled. "Now I only have to worry about finding a job. Oh, and passing that silly little exam."

* * *

"Ah, Miss Granger, so the time has finally come," Professor McGonagall said warmly when Hermione entered the Transfigurations classroom one morning in early December. "Are you nervous at all?"

Hermione took a deep breath. Today, at last, was the day she would sit her N.E.W.T.s. She'd been preparing for this day since first year…but she never imagined that she'd be taking the test alone, months before everyone else. Having the quiet, empty classroom all to herself was a little unnerving, but at least it would soon be over with.

"A little, Professor," she confessed. "But I've been studying nonstop for months, so I guess I'm as prepared as I'll ever be. I couldn't even study anymore last night. Ginny Weasley made me stop at eight o'clock and take a sleeping potion so that I'd get enough rest."

"She was a good friend to do that. I'd be willing to wager that the amount of sleep that students get the night before this test affects their results more than how much they studied."

Professor McGonagall gestured the many empty seats in the classroom. "Feel free to take a seat wherever you feel most comfortable. I'll supply you with quills and parchment. You have two hours to complete the written part of the exam, with a half-hour break in between. Then, you can come into my office and perform the practical side of the exam, which will consist of several spells and incantations that I'll ask you to demonstrate for me. Professor Snape will come in afterwards, and he'll expect you to brew a potion of his choosing. Then, Miss Granger, you'll be done. Any questions?"

Hermione shook her head.

"So you're ready, then? Do you need to eat anything before you start?" McGonagall asked kindly. "Though I'm not equipped with a stash of chocolate like Professor Lupin always was when he taught here, I think I might have some snacks in my desk. One shouldn't take an exam while hungry."

Just the mention of food made Hermione's stomach lurch unpleasantly. She'd tried to eat breakfast that morning, but every little morsel she put in her mouth felt like a stabbing pain in her stomach. Although she didn't think she was very anxious, her body was telling her otherwise. She couldn't imagine that McGonagall would simply pass her if she ended up vomiting all over her parchment.

"No, thank you, Professor…I think I'm ready to begin," she said, trying to sound as relaxed and confident as possible.

"Very well. I've set a timer to go off in an hour, and then you'll have your break. I doubt you need any well-wishes from me, but I feel it would be uncouth of me not to say…" McGonagall's mouth twisted into an affectionate, rarely-seen smile. "Good luck, Hermione."

And with a swish of her robes, McGonagall had left the classroom. For a moment Hermione sat in wonderment at the fact that her Transfigurations professor had never called her by her first name before. Was this a sign that, already, McGonagall viewed her no longer as a mere student, but possibly as a graduate and an equal?

Hermione dispelled the thought momentarily from her mind and took several more long, deep breaths. Then she picked up her quill, read the first question on her exam, and began writing feverishly.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Here, finally, is a new chapter of this story. I truly would _not_ have started it again without my wonderful reviewers, who have continued to read and respond to this fic years after I posted the last chapter, and have been literally begging me for an update You all are indescribably wonderful. This is for you.

I'd originally planned for this chapter to be more exciting and have more "action," but it didn't turn out that way. When I started writing it, it was clear that I first needed to write more about Hermione's letter to her parents, her taking the N.E.W.T.s, and Ginny's struggle with her feelings for Hermione. Plus this chapter was already getting so long, and I knew that if I included all the action I wanted to include in it, it would be too long. But I hope you still like it and find it worth the wait. And never fear - I've already begun writing Chapter 11, and there will be some major plot developments in that one.

I've been writing this fic for _eight years_ now, but I'm determined to finish it before the year is out. You guys definitely help when it comes to getting me motivated, so thank you!


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

Ginny didn't feel like herself. Of that, she was certain. She hadn't felt like herself for months now, since it had dawned on her what her feelings for Hermione Granger truly were. But the closer the time came to when Hermione would no longer be living down the hall from her at Hogwarts, the worse she felt.

She had deluded herself into thinking that she could simply accept the fact that the lovely brunette girl would never be hers. She'd thought that if she just forced herself to make peace with it, then her feelings would fade, just as her attraction to Harry had faded. But that wasn't working anymore - it had never worked for her, in fact - and she knew it. Any time she tried to look at Hermione from a strictly platonic angle, Hermione would inevitably do something that would remind Ginny of how exquisitely beautiful she was.

One recent incident stuck out most in Ginny's mind. About a week before Hermione was supposed to take her N.E.W.T.s, the girls had planned to meet by the shores of the Great Lake, about an hour before dinner, so that they could go on a brief walk together. They had lately taken to going on these lakeside walks on a regular basis, no matter what the weather. It had been Hermione's idea - she said that she needed a way to get exercise and clear her head after spending long hours in the library, and Ginny was happy to accompany her (probably _too_ happy). But that night, Ginny stood in their usual meeting spot for half an hour and still Hermione failed to show up. Lateness was so very unlike her, and Ginny didn't know what to do or think. Just when Ginny began walking back to the castle, worrying about what could be keeping her friend, Hermione's otter Patronus appeared before her. Speaking in Hermione's lovely, soft voice, the wispy white Patronus said, "Gin, I am so sorry. Something came up, and I had no time to let you know I wouldn't be able to meet you. I'll see you back at the Great Hall."

But Hermione didn't show up at the dining hall until most of the students were already halfway though their meals. And when she did pass through the large double doors, she was accompanied on either side of her by Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape - whom Ginny only then realized had not been sitting at the large table with the other teachers. They were followed by a first year Slytherin girl and a first year Gryffindor girl, both of whom were crying.

"What in the world happened?" Ginny whispered as Hermione took her seat beside her. She turned her head and watched as the two first years went to their House's respective tables, the Gryffindor girl glaring at the Slytherin as she did so. "Are you in trouble with McGonagall and Snape?"

"Not me," Hermione said grimly, piling food onto her plate. "But Sophie Richardson" - she nodded in the direction of the first year Gryffindor - "sure is. I was on my way to meet you and I caught her doing a particularly foul hex on Ciara McSuaine, the Slytherin. I had to help Ciara, and then of course I had to alert their Heads of House to report what I'd seen. I thought dinner would be over before Snape and Gonagall were finally done asking me questions."

"But of course the Slytherin must have started it," Ginny said automatically, thinking of the rivalries that she, her friends, and her brothers had had with various bullying members of Slytherin over the years. Hermione shook her head and said,

"Not this time, Ginny. I saw the entire attack. The two girls were arguing, but when I came across them Ciara was trying to end the argument and she was walking away. Sophie hit her with the hex from behind, then hightailed it out of there when she saw that I'd seen everything. I didn't hear the exact curse, but I think it might have been Sectumsempra."

"_What?" _Ginny exclaimed in disbelief.

"Yeah, it gave Ciara a nasty slice on her arm. She was lucky that was all it did - I guess Sophie's aim wasn't very good. Anyway, Ciara began crying and I rushed over to help her, but when she saw her own blood she fainted. Then when she came to a few moments later, she threw up, poor thing. I had to levitate her to take her to the Hospital Wing."

"But why did the Gryffindor girl do it?"

"Well, we only found that out much later when McGonagall asked Sophie to explain herself. Turns out the girls grew up together, and were best friends before they got their Hogwarts letters. But Sophie couldn't get past it when Ciara was sorted into Slytherin. It seems the Richardson family distrusts Slytherins as a whole. Anyway, the girls have been fighting about it ever since the Sorting Ceremony. It must have finally come to a head tonight." Hermione shook her head sadly, sighing, "Poor Ciara. I really felt so sorry for her. She got sick all over my robes, but of course I couldn't react. I didn't want to her to be embarrassed about that on top of everything."

Ginny looked down at her plate and didn't ask Hermione anything more about the incident. Here was, again, yet another thing that made Hermione stand out among every other person that Ginny knew. Her compassion and integrity were such that she didn't even think twice before coming to the aid of a girl in her rival House, and didn't deny the truth of what had happened even though a member of her own House had been the perpetrator. And she stayed with the girl throughout the entire ordeal, even when it resulted in her getting vomited on, missing out on a walk with her friend, and almost missing dinner. She would have done it even if she hadn't been a prefect, because she was that selfless. She was so genuinely _good._

And Ginny knew that she would probably never meet anyone else who she wanted half as much as she wanted Hermione. That was the heartbreaking thing, the infuriating thing: that in Hermione she saw her chance at true happiness with another person, and it was already over before it could ever begin. After her breakups with Michael and Dean, Ginny had been able to brush it off because she knew that she would always be able to find someone else. Possessing confidence had never been a problem for her. But now…Ginny might be able to find someone else, even a very good someone, but no matter who they were they would never be able to compare to Hermione Granger. She would be fated to settle for the rest of her future relationships. And hadn't she told Hermione repeatedly that it was never worth settling for less than you deserved?

Maybe it was for the best that Hermione was leaving school, Ginny thought forlornly to herself the next afternoon as she walked alone to Quidditch practice. As painful as it was, it would be better not to see her quite so often. That way, it might be easier for her to move on…if not move on to another person, then to something that would distract her from the mental torture she was going through. She couldn't stand to feel like this lovesick, weak version of herself any longer. It was too much.

She passed by the lake, the same lake that over the past few months had been the backdrop for so many of her walks with Hermione. All at once, an uncontrollable surge of anger and despair erupted from deep within her. With a wordless, almost primal scream, she found herself taking the heavy Quaffle she held in her hands and throwing it across the water with all of her strength. It splashed, sank into the black water, and disappeared - with a finality that seemed to represent all of her lost hopes.

A loud sob choked her, and she furiously wiped at the hot tears that pricked her face. Then - a noise, like a foot snapping a twig on the ground. She turned her head and saw Colin Creevey standing awkwardly a few feet away, silently watching her. He must have been walking by unseen when she had her outburst. Humiliation stung her, adding to her fury, and she shouted at him through her tears,

"What're you gawking at?! Keep walking, Creevey - or take one of your damn photos, it'll last longer!" With wide, frightened eyes, Colin ran off. As soon as she was alone again Ginny covered her face with her hands, hating herself.

It was one thing to dislike the heartsick person that she'd been lately. It was another thing entirely to despise the hard, resentful person that she feared she was becoming. At least, it was making one thing bitterly clear to her: she wasn't worthy of Hermione.

* * *

"Here's to Hermione! Without a doubt, the most brilliant person I've ever met! The first person I've known to graduate from Hogwarts six months before everyone else in her year-"

"Well, technically, I haven't graduated yet, Ginny."

"Oh, don't kill my buzz with your technicalities! You've as good as graduated and you know it."

_Buzzed_ was exactly the right term to describe Ginny Weasley at that moment…as well as several other people in their group who were gathered with them. Ogden's Old Firewhiskey had already been consumed prior to going to the pub in Hogsmeade, and now they were all being served pitchers of Butterbeer by Madam Rosmerta.

As soon as Hermione had announced to her friends that she'd passed her N.E.W.T.s with flying colors, Ginny sent out invitations for a get-together celebrating Hermione's accomplishments. It was also a going-away party of sorts - although it was now evident that Hermione wouldn't be going far, since she was officially moving into the flat above Scrivenshaft's. She signed the lease only two days after passing her exam.

That Friday night, they were all clustered together at The Three Broomsticks. It was a small but good crowd: Harry, Ginny, Neville, Luna, George, Fred and his girlfriend Angelina, Dean, and Seamus. Ron was notably but unsurprisingly absent. Hermione had gone so far as to put their history aside for just a night, and she'd invited him along without mentioning it to Ginny. But he had sent her back a note, awkwardly explaining that he didn't think he should come. Apparently, Lavender had reacted with insane jealousy when he told her that he'd be going to an outing with his ex-girlfriend without her. Ron and Hermione both knew that she was not going to extend an invitation to Lavender; the two girls had never been friendly even before their love triangle had ensued. So they left it at that. Hermione could tell that Ron felt badly that he wasn't going to be there, but he had chosen Lavender. He had made his bed and he could bloody well lie in it.

It was the Weasley twins who had provided the Firewhiskey while they were outside in the snow, getting ready to leave the castle. "How 'bout a bit of pre-gaming, eh, Granger?" Fred said to Hermione with a wink as he took a large silver flask from his coat pocket. "Since you're all grown up now."

"Yeah, Miss Fancy Pants," added George. "Soon, you'll be out on your own , a mature and responsible adult - just like the two of us."

Hermione snorted. "I'm not worried about you _ever_ becoming mature or responsible." She sniffed the contents of the flask, then made a face. "Ugh, is that Firewhiskey? No thanks! This may be my party, but don't count on getting to see me drunk tonight. I'm still a prefect, after all. And you boys should know better than to supply underage students with alcohol - Ginny and Luna aren't seventeen yet!"

"Oh, c'mon, Hermione - live a little," Ginny said, a slight edge in her voice as she snatched the flask from her brother and took two large swigs. "Take a chance and do something out of the ordinary for yourself. You never know what good things might happen."

Hermione stared wordlessly at Ginny. What did her friend mean by that? And why was she guzzling down Firewhiskey like it was going out of style? She knew that her friend liked to drink on occasion, but never with the purpose of getting intoxicated. Yet that seemed to be Ginny's plan tonight, and Hermione didn't understand why. She caught Harry's eye, and when he raised his eyebrows at her she knew that he was wondering the same thing.

"Anyone else want some?" Ginny said, offering the flask to the crowd. Seamus, Dean, and the twins each had a gulp, but no one else partook after that. "Okay, well let's get on then - we have a party to start!" Ginny said jovially, taking Hermione's arm. The two girls walked arm-in-arm the entire way to the village, though the close embrace made Hermione feel slightly uncomfortable, considering how strangely Ginny was acting.

It was a fun trek to Hogsmeade in the falling snow. Hermione's ears were filled with the sound of Fred and George singing "Hoggy Hoggy Hogwarts" off-key at the top of their lungs, and the chatter of her friends as they reminisced about their years at school together. She wrapped her winter coat even tighter around herself and gazed at the cold, ruddy faces of her classmates. While she had never been close to Dean, Seamus, or Angelina - and the latter was there mostly to stand as Fred's "plus one" - she was still grateful that they'd all gathered here tonight in her name. She made a mental note to invite them all to the party at her childhood home that her parents would soon be throwing for her.

When they arrived at their destination, Hermione was surprised at herself when she realized that she was already looking around for both Madam Rosmerta and her other half, Rolanda Hooch. She hadn't seen them together since that memorable autumn day when she and Ginny had gone flat-hunting and she'd learned that the two women were a couple. Only a few months had passed since that day, but it felt like much longer ago. As the group pushed a couple of tables together in the back corner and started settling in, Hermione spotted the barmaid and the flying instructor.

As it happened, the women were once again cozying up to one another at the bar, with Rosmerta standing behind the counter and Hooch sitting on a stool in front of it with a drink in her hand. They leaning towards one another so closely that their foreheads were almost touching, and they were laughing. Hermione thought that she had never seen anything so beautiful as the sight of the two women, so openly and happily adoring one another. And when she glanced back towards her friends and saw Neville and Luna sitting hand-in-hand together, and then Fred and Angelina, the thought occurred to her that maybe it was winter, not spring, that was the season for love. Maybe soon the real thing would happen for her, and she wouldn't have to wait any longer.

"Rosmerta, my dear, I think you have customers," Hooch said in a teasing voice as the large group took their seats nearby.

"My goodness, look at all of you! What on earth's the occasion?" Rosmerta exclaimed as she made her way towards their table.

"I'll tell you what's the occasion," Ginny said, her voice rising over the din of the pub. "Last week, Hermione Granger passed her N.E.W.T.s with the highest scores that Hogwarts has seen in _thirty years._ And we're all here to celebrate because we're so damn proud of her."

"Oh, c'mon, Ginny," Hermione said, her face flushing. "You don't have to say all that."

"Oh, but of course she does!" Rosmerta cried. "That's wonderful news - congratulations, Hermione!"

Hermione murmured "Thank you." All this fuss over her made her feel extremely self-conscious and shy. She wished that Ginny would stop drawing attention to her. She was content with being seen as nerdy, bookish Hermione Jean Granger and she didn't _need_ to be known as the person with the best N.E.W.T. results in decades. But she reminded herself that it was sweet of Ginny to be so ostentatiously proud of her. It showed how much Ginny cared.

"Let me treat you all to a round of Butterbeers, on the house," Rosmerta said, and then when the group began to collectively argue with her she dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "No, no, you're not paying, you lot! You sit tight and I'll be back with your drinks."

Once all the drinks were on the table Ginny made her toast to Hermione. Then after that first round the Weasley twins ordered even more drinks for the group, and after that pretty much everyone, except for Hermione, was at least a little bit tipsy - especially those who had downed Firewhiskey earlier. Sometimes several loud conversations would ensue at once between groups of two or three people, and sometimes all ten of them would be laughing over the same memory or sharing the same joke.

At one point in the evening, as their energy seemed to be winding down, Angelina turned to Hermione and said,

"So, you've got your flat, right? But how are things looking for you on the job front?"

"I have…a few leads." Hermione stared down coyly into her pint glass.

"A few leads? Bloody hell, you have to give us more than that!" Dean egged her on. "Why don't you want to tell us? Is it something horrible? Are you considering apprenticing under Snape?"

"Ugh, I don't want to think of Hermione doing anything _under_ Snape," Seamus said, making a face and pretending to gag himself with his finger. The entire group let out a groan of mutual disgust.

"_Seamus!" _Hermione cried, staring at him in horror.

"Oh, thank _you_ for putting that image in our minds, you filthy Irishman!" George said. "There are some people I just don't want to think about having sex. And that's a prime example."

"Are you saying that Hermione's not attractive?" Ginny interjected. "That's really insulting, not to mention just downright wrong."

"Nothing's the matter with Hermione, it's Snape that no one wants to picture bumping uglies," George said.

"_Uglies_ is right," Fred concurred. "Ugh, I think I need to order us another round just so we all can wash the taste of that out of our mouths…" Several members of the group cheered at the idea of ordering more drinks.

"Well, I'm glad we've got that point settled," Ginny said, raising her voice to be heard over all of their friends. "Because we can all agree, can't we? - Hermione's completely fucking _gorgeous. _My brother Ron was a bloody idiot to give her up. I mean, who wouldn't want to be 'under' her?"

"Ginny, _please_." Hermione's face flushed a deep red again. "I think you've had too much to drink. No more of this over-the-top complimenting of me, it's too much."

"Who says it's over-the-top? I mean every single word." Though Ginny's words were a bit slurred, there was still an edge of defensiveness in her voice.

"I don't doubt that you do, but-" Hermione began.

"And I bet everyone agrees with me, too," Ginny interrupted. "Oi, Rosmerta, Hooch!" She called out in the direction of the bar. "You think Hermione's beautiful, don't you? I mean, if anyone has the right to be the judge of another woman's attractiveness, it's probably you two Sapphic ladies."

"Uh, well…" Rosmerta faltered. Hermione realized with mortification that she had never seen the barmaid looking flustered before. What was Ginny doing, calling out the two women's lesbianism in front of the entire establishment? Even a drunk Ginny Weasley would normally know better than to speak publicly about someone else's private life.

"That's _enough_, Ginny - please stop," Hermione begged, but Ginny went on like she didn't hear her.

"Do I ever envy the both of you, by the way. It must be fucking _fantastic_ to be in love with someone who just so happens to love you back. I mean, what are the _odds_-"

"Ginny," Harry said between clenched teeth, grabbing her arm. "Come. With. Me. _Now._" He stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over his chair, and pulled a sloppy, protesting Ginny out of the pub and back into the falling snow. After the door slammed shut behind them, a long, tense quietness fell over the table. The silence was broken when Rosmerta approached their table.

"So…you'll want to settle the bill, then?" she said hesitantly.

"Yes, please," Hermione said firmly. Rosmerta nodded and hurried back to the bar.

"Just so you know," said Hermione, glaring daggers at the Weasley twins, "the next time I have a party, there will be no 'pre-gaming.' Leave your hard liquor at home."

"Er…yeah," Fred said, grimacing. He looked at George, who wore an equally guilty look on his face. "Agreed."

"That was…bizarre, though," Neville said, frowning. "We all know that Ginny likes to drink sometimes, but I've never seen her lose control of herself like that."

"Yeah, what's wrong with her tonight?" Dean asked.

"I wish I knew," Hermione said morosely, shaking her head. "I just hope Harry's taking her back to the castle."

"He's probably reading her the riot act," Angelina said. "Good thing, too. She may not be in love with him anymore, but he's still one of the few people she'll actually listen to, drunk or not."

Hermione gazed off in the direction of the front door to the pub, where Harry had dragged Ginny away. "I should make sure she drinks lots of water before she goes to sleep," she said in a concerned tone. "She's going to be terribly dehydrated from drinking all that alcohol, and I know she's going to have the worst hangover tomorrow. Maybe I should stay up with her overnight, to make sure that she doesn't get sick…"

No one but Neville noticed, but Luna's humungous blue eyes suddenly widened even further, as if a light bulb had gone off in her head. When her boyfriend gave her a questioning look, she leaned over and whispered something discreetly in his ear. His jaw dropped, and his expression was completely disbelieving as he whispered back, "Now _that's_ loony. Hermione and Ginny aren't…I mean, you really think that…?" She nodded.

"You just wait and see," she murmured, so low that no on else could hear. "_Something _is going on, whether anyone else realizes it or not."

* * *

Ginny nearly tripped over her own feet as she crossed the threshold from the pub to the bitingly cold outdoors. Fortunately, Harry caught her arm before could nose-dive into the deep drifts of snow in front of the steps.

"What the hell are you doing - it's freezing out here, I wanna go back in!" she complained.

"No, not until you tell what the hell _you're_ doing." Harry pulled her to a narrow alley nearby so they could talk in relative privacy. "This is supposed to be Hermione's night," he began again. "And you've made it unbearably awkward by going on like a drunken fool."

"I'm not a drunken fool! I've just gotten a bit pissed, that's all. You are such a downer, Harry - _such _a downer, you know that! Honestly, what's wrong with me having a little fun?"

"You don't look to me like you're having fun at all," he said, crossing his arms and gazing pointedly at her. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that's why you got drunk tonight in the first place."

That seemed to strike a nerve. Ginny's expression turned colder than the snow, and she turned from him quickly. "Harry, I'm going back inside," she said flatly, but he placed himself firmly in front of her, blocking her entry back into the pub.

"Like hell you are! What's going on, Ginny?"

"_Get out of my way! _Nothing's going on, just mind your own business and leave me _alone_!"

"You mean like _you_ 'minded your own business' this past summer when Ron was ignoring Hermione?" Harry said acidly.

Ginny paled at Harry's reference to the events of the past summer. Did Harry know more than he let on? Had he guessed that she felt guilty for her hand in the breakup between Hermione and Ron?

"That…that has nothing to do with this. That was completely different…" She silently cursed herself. Why hadn't she remembered that when she drank past a certain point she tended to lose her skills for crafting eloquent, convincing arguments? She tended to lose her skills for bullshitting and lying, too. "Ron was hurting her. I'm not hurting anyone else."

"Aren't you? After your little scene tonight, I'm not so sure," Harry said skeptically. "Look, I don't know what's eating you, but I can tell when you're not acting like yourself. I heard how Colin Creevey found you, and what you said to him, when he passed by you near the lake the other day. Word gets around fast. Oh, c'mon, Gin," he added when he saw her shamefaced look, "did you really think the team believed you when you said that Seamus accidentally blew up your Quaffle?"

"Okay, so I was lying," Ginny admitted, rolling her eyes. "Your point? Whattaya want from me?"

"All I want is for you to be honest with me! And for you to remember that you can come to me and Hermione with whatever is going on in your life that's causing you to act like this. For Merlin's sake, we're your best friends!"

Ginny laughed bitterly. "Believe me, I _cannot _come to you two about this one. Especially Hermione. This is one area where I'm all alone."

"What do you mean, 'especially Hermione'? Did you two have a fight or something?"

Another wry laugh. "If only. I wish we'd fought, because at least that would be something that I could fix…and at least it would mean that maybe I'd had the courage to…to…" Ginny trailed off and sank down onto the snowy street, her back against the wall of the alley - crushed all at once by the weight of her drunkenness, her tiredness, and her depression.

Harry reached out to haul her back up, but suddenly he stopped. Instantaneously all of the elements clicked into place: how upset Ginny had been when she first learned that Hermione was leaving Hogwarts; how much time the girls had been spending in each other's company over the last few months, to the exclusion of everyone else, even him; Ginny's comments in the pub about Hermione being beautiful, and her envy of couples like Hooch and Rosmerta; her expression just now of a wish that she had the courage to do something… Why hadn't he put it all together before?

"Oh, Gin," Harry murmured. He knelt down in the snow across from her, his green stare boring deep into her brown. An understanding born from six years of friendship passed between them, and for a moment they just looked at one another, saying nothing but communicating everything.

"You see now, don't you," Ginny's voice quavered. Swallowing, Harry nodded. "Please don't tell Hermione," she begged.

The young man wrapped his arms around the young woman and helped her stand up. As he half-carried her weak, clumsy form through the cold back to the castle, he decided that he would ask her questions later when she was no longer drunk. For the time being he just wished, more than anything, that he could do something to erase her pain. That he might soon be able to see all of his friends - Hermione, Ginny, and Ron - happy, once and for all.

* * *

Shortly before Ginny's intoxicated exit from The Three Broomsticks, Ron was preparing to make an exit of his own.

"Bugger it all - I don't care if Lavender's got her knickers in a twist," he muttered, jumping up resolutely from his bed in the Gryffindor boys' dormitory. "It's none of her business who I hang out with. I'm going to Hermione's party in Hogsmeade."

As he pulled on his boots and coat to shield himself against the cold outside, the thought occurred to him that some of Hermione's friends might not be thrilled to see him. The group might not even be there anymore. But that didn't matter, he told himself firmly, because he finally realized…this wasn't about him. This was about Hermione, and repairing what was left of their friendship. The friendship that had been broken by _him_ and by all of the idiotic mistakes he'd made since the summer_._

It's not like he and Lavender were even spending time together this evening, anyway. She was off studying for a Divinations exam with Parvati. The couple had said goodnight after dinner, with Ron telling her that he was going straight to bed and didn't plan on leaving his dormitory until the morning. Well, that had been true at the time. She didn't have to know that he had changed his mind.

Finally dressed, Ron passed through the doors of his dormitory into the common room. But very soon he became aware that despite the late hour, he wasn't alone. From one end of the large, circular room he heard telltale noises of fumbling limbs and heavy breathing. He snorted quietly. Well, it wouldn't be the first time a couple of Gryffindors would be caught snogging or even having sex in the common room. The upperclassmen were known to do it fairly frequently; after awhile, you got used to averting your eyes and hurrying past them. But just as he was doing exactly that, something about the shadowy form of the couple caught his eye. A mane of curly blonde hair, and a familiar pink cloth headband woven through it…

Ron's eyes focused, and he started as realization hit him of who exactly he was looking at. "What the fuck…_Lavender?_"

The girl gasped as she sat up, her naked body just barely covered by the blanket that was wrapped around her. "_Ron!" _She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, looking guilty and ridiculous all at once. Her partner remained in the shadows.

"Oh, so it's not 'Won-Won' now?" Ron said scornfully. He shook his head. The emotions resulting from this betrayal hadn't fully hit him yet, but he still managed to get out more words than she could. "I should have known you were lying when you told me that you were studying for class. When have I ever known you to do that?"

Lavender was still shamefully silent. After all, what _could_ she say?

"Well, come on now, show yourself," Ron said, nodding his head toward the person who was still hiding in the darkness. "Don't be shy. I'd _really_ like to know who's been having it off with my girlfriend while my back's been turned."

With a haughty grumble the person stood up, holding a strategically placed throw pillow in front of his crotch, and stepped forward. The low flames of the torches on the wall were just bright enough to reveal the athletic body and arrogant face of Cormac McLaggen.

* * *

**Author's Note:** As I hinted at in the author's notes to my last chapter, this installment in the story proved to be much harder to write than I originally expected. I worked on it for a very long time because I wanted to produce something of quality for you guys. I might have been able to finish and post it sooner, but I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't have liked it as much.

Thanks again for waiting patiently, and thanks, as always, for your wonderful reviews and kind words. Thank you also to those who have added me to their favorite authors, favorite stories, and story alert lists. I know you wouldn't do that if you didn't like what you were reading. All of that means a lot to me!

One more thing: I know that technically, Cormac McLaggen would have graduated from Hogwarts the June before the events of this story take place, since he's a year ahead of the Trio. Well…I have to admit that I decided to just disregard that tiny little fact, since I can think of very few people who Ron would be more pissed off to find was sleeping with his girlfriend. ;)


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

"Wow. Very classy, McLaggen," Ron said, struggling to swallow his anger. "It wasn't enough for you to try to take my position on the Quidditch team - now you have to take my girlfriend too?"

"Well, maybe if you were any good at either-" McLaggen began nastily, but Ron interrupted him.

"How long?" He turned to Lavender, and when she didn't reply he repeated, "_How long?_"

"Since…mid October or so," she mumbled.

"And we started going out in September. Incredible," said Ron, shaking his head again. "Didn't wait long, did you?"

"Oh, don't you get all high and mighty. It wasn't much quicker than it took _you_ to toss aside the Granger girl," Lavender snapped.

"I never cheated on her! At least I have the decency to end it with one person before I move onto the next!" Despite his defensiveness, Ron felt his cheeks turning pink at the reminder of how he'd treated Hermione. "I never would have cheated on you, either - even though you were so jealous of the idea of me just hanging out with Hermione while you were here boffing McLaggen, you hypocrite!"

"Why do you think I took up with him?" To Ron's shock, Lavender's lip quivered and she looked as though she might cry. "What good is your precious fidelity when you wouldn't even have sex with me? At least Cormac will do what _you_ won't! Every time I thought you and I were about to do it, you stopped and wouldn't follow through with it. Kissing's all very well and good for awhile, but I have other needs!"

"Fine. I'll leave you to them, then. You're wasting my time and I have better places to be."

Ron stormed out of Gryffindor Tower without a second glace at his girlfriend…or _ex-_girlfriend, rather. Although neither of them had actually said the words, "I'm breaking up with you," their conversation made the end of their relationship clear. As he trudged through the snow with his fists clenched by his side, he wondered why he had even gotten with Lavender Brown in the first place. Now that they were over, he found himself finally able to admit to himself that his relationship with her had been little more than a rebound. He probably would have never given her a second look if she hadn't aggressively pursued him first.

Sure, she was pretty enough…but that was really all she was. She seemed to have no passions or talents, unless you were generous enough to count Divination and gossiping. She didn't even come close to possessing Hermione's intelligence. She was a bit of an airhead, really.

_Oh, God,_ Ron thought, stopping in his tracks in horror at his own disgrace. _What have I done? How could I have replaced Hermione with someone so far beneath her? _

It was true that his feelings for Hermione had seemed to change right before the summer holidays. He'd been brimming with excitement about the relationship in the beginning, but after about five months, his initial enthusiasm began to wane. As their relationship began to transform from something that made his heart flutter when he so much as glanced at Hermione, to something that had settled into a comfortable and somewhat monotonous routine, he'd taken it as a sign that he was no longer in love with her. He itched to experience once again the exhilaration of a new relationship. There was one major difficulty, though: he hadn't a bastard clue how to break up with someone properly. Particularly someone who had been his best friend for years. And that was why when he stopped writing to Hermione and avoided visiting her, he thought he was easing himself out of couplehood by pulling the band aid off slowly, as it were.

Ron had had no idea at the time how difficult resuming their friendship would be, or how long it would take. After all, Hermione loved him, didn't she? He could always count on that. Surely she would forgive him. Surely in a matter of, at most, weeks they would switch right back to their old dynamic, without much damage done…

Merlin, what a naïve, unfeeling fool he had been. Never for a moment had he predicted the extent of Hermione's hurt and anger - that she would all but stop speaking to him, that she wouldn't even look his way when he waved to her at the Quidditch pitch, that she would rather graduate from Hogwarts early without her friends than have to see him around school anymore. (He had never quite believed her when she'd insisted that her reasons for deciding to leave school had nothing at all to do with him.)

And he'd never imagined that she would replace him as her best friend with his own sister. Ron could hardly contain the regret that reared its head inside of him whenever he saw Ginny and Hermione walking around school together, thick as thieves. There was jealousy there, too, but he knew that he could not express it to anyone. After all, what right had he to be jealous of the girls' new-found closeness when Ginny had been there for Hermione when he hadn't? When Ginny had defended Hermione against him over the summer, as much as he hated his sister for it at the time…

What if he'd been wrong about everything? What if he'd never actually fallen out of love with Hermione at all…but had let go of a good thing in his immature desire to play the field and date other girls?

The words that Ginny had spoken to him on the day that she'd forced him to finally end things with Hermione echoed through his mind: _Hermione is much better than anything you'd ever get again. She's gorgeous, and smart, and funny, and a good friend who's gone through hell and back for you. Most of all, she's mature, something you're a long way from becoming._

"Well, Ginny…I'm growing up now," Ron groaned to himself. "And it feels like absolute shit."

Just as he was thinking this, and had reached the half-way point to Hogsmeade Village, Ginny herself came into his view. She was walking towards him in the opposite direction - well, not so much walking as being semi-dragged by Harry.

"Hey!" Ron called out to them. Harry and Ginny both looked taken aback to see him as he bridged the distance between them with long, fast strides. "Ginny, are you okay? Why is Harry carrying you?" Even though he and his only sister hadn't exactly been getting along since the incidents of the summer, he still felt concerned at the sight Harry helping her walk as if she'd been hurt.

"'e's not carrying me, and it's none of your business," Ginny mumbled, her words slurring together as she leaned her head against Harry's shoulder.

"Ah, I see. Had a lot to drink, then?" Ron's eyes met those of Harry, who nodded.

"Firewhiskey, mainly. I'm taking her back to Gryffindor Tower to sleep it off. What're you doing out here, Ron?"

"Well…I was hoping I could still make it to Hermione's party at The Three Broomsticks. Has everyone else left, too?" Ron's heart sank with fear that he might be too late.

"Er, no, I don't think so," Harry said, one dark eyebrow raised. "But I think things were already winding down when Ginny and I left. You might be able to catch the rest of the group there. But I didn't think you were coming. Wasn't Lavender all put out by the idea of you going without her or something?"

"_Lavender_," Ron scoffed. "I couldn't give a Pygmy Puff's fart what Lavender Brown thinks. She and I split up. Look, I've got to run to the pub before Hermione leaves, but I'll see you two later, okay? Thanks for looking after my little sister - you're a good man, Harry Potter." And Ron sprinted off before they had a chance to tell him goodbye.

* * *

"Damn you, Ron!" Ginny called out furiously in her brother's direction as he ran off. "Don't you _dare-_-" Ron didn't seem to have heard. Within seconds he had disappeared into the black, snowy distance.

"Ginny, what are you going on about?" Harry said, more confused than ever by his friend's behavior.

"Can't you tell what he's up to? He and Lavender are over. So now he's going to ask Hermione if she'll take him back." Fresh tears fell down Ginny's cold face. "And I bet she'll say yes, because that's all she's ever wanted since the tosser broke her heart…even though he doesn't deserve her, and never will…"

"You don't know that," Harry said, trying to sound comforting and convincing. "Hey, look at me. You don't know that, okay? Even if he is going to try to win her back, you can't say for sure that Hermione would give in. She's stronger than that."

"I…I think I'm going to be sick." Barely a moment after this pronouncement, Ginny bent over and vomited into the snow. Harry stayed close to her side, holding back her long red hair so she wouldn't soil it.

"There you go. Get the alcohol out of your system," he said, patting her back as she continued to throw up. "Better you do that out here than in your bed, right?"

"It's not just the Firewhiskey," Ginny said, shuddering and wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "I'm nauseous as all get-out because…because of this whole Hermione situation. Oh God, Harry…it's one thing to accept that - that she would never want to be with me, but I couldn't stand to see her back with Ron."

"Ginny…you're still drunk, and you're emotional, and it's causing you to get all worked up about things that might not happen," Harry said, bluntly but not unkindly. "C'mon, you need to be in your bed. I wish I could Side-Along Apparate you on the grounds. But I guess it would only make you dizzy anyway and you'd probably throw up again. Let's keep walking."

Ginny managed a small smile. "Ron was right about one thing," she murmured as she slumped against his shoulder again, taking one clumsy step after another.

"What's that?"

"You _are_ a good man. I'm actually glad that you yelled at me back at the pub. You're such a great friend, Harry." As if she'd drank Veritaserum instead of Firewhiskey, words began tumbling out of her mouth. " I…I'm sorry it never worked out between you and me. I honestly thought you and I would probably get together, one day. But…I fell for Hermione and I don't know if I can truly fancy _anyone _other than her ever again. I feel like this stupid unrequited crush has ruined me for life. I hope I never hurt you. If it's any consolation, I still care about you a lot."

"It's all right," Harry said softly. "We're still best pals, and that's all that matters to me." Secretly, he found that constantly filling in the role of The Most Understanding Friend In The World for everyone in his life could be very tiring. And it _had_ disappointed him a few months back when he realized he'd been friend-zoned by Ginny, but he had gotten over it. And he had even begun to fall for someone else…but he was resolved to tell no one of _that_ just yet.

Minutes later, Ron pushed his way through the doors of The Three Broomsticks. A wave of relief flooded through him as he saw that the group of friends - and most importantly, Hermione - was still there, though they were settling their bills with Madam Rosmerta and the copious pint glasses on the table were all drained of beverage. Hesitantly, he made his way over to their table.

"Hey," he said, his hands in his pockets and a nervous smile on his face. "Am I too late to give my congratulations to the graduate?"

Hermione looked up from the money she was counting out of her coin purse, and her jaw dropped. "Ron? You…you came! I thought..."

"Yeah. Sorry I didn't make it earlier." He was so glad that she didn't seem unhappy to see him that he was able to ignore the stares from Neville, Luna, Dean, Seamus, Angelina, and the twins. After a few moments of mildly uncomfortable silence he spoke up again, "Look, I, uh, know you guys must be leaving, but…could we go somewhere to talk, 'Mione? Madam Puddifoot's, maybe?"

"Um, yeah, I suppose that would be fine," Hermione said. She was so stunned that he'd even shown up that the option of saying no didn't even occur to her. "Come to think of it…I could use some tea to balance out all that Butterbeer."

"Great," Ron grinned.

"I can't stay out too long, though," Hermione warned, putting her money on the table and standing up. "It's getting late, and I need to check on Ginny in her dorm room at some point. She got way too drunk tonight."

"No, of course we won't stay out too late," Ron said, nodding his head. He didn't bother to mention the fact that he had just seen Ginny, and that Harry seemed to be taking perfectly adequate care of her. All that mattered to him was the chance to get Hermione alone for just a few minutes.

As Ron led the way out of The Three Broomsticks and she followed, she turned her head and gazed back at her friends with a look of complete bewilderment. Well, _this_ had certainly thrown a wrench into her already-dramatic celebratory outing.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Parts of this chapter turned out way longer than I planned, like Ron's internal monologue and the conversation between Ginny and Harry. So the conversation between Hermione and Ron, meant to be in this chapter, will have to wait until the next. What will they say?! ;)

Thanks again to my reviewers (reviews make my day, seriously), people who put me on their favorites and alerts, and those who have been kind enough to reach out to me on private message to help me work out some plot points on this story. You know who you are!


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen**

Hermione and Ron said very little to one another when they first set out to walk the block and a half from The Three Broomsticks to the tea shop. Though intensely curious to find out what he wanted to say to her, Hermione figured that she could wait to ask him until they had reached their destination. On the way they passed Scrivenshaft's, which was on the corner of the street that intersected with the one where Madam Puddifoot's lay.

"So you're really going to live there, Hermione?" Ron asked her, pointing at the building that housed the stationary shop.

"Mm-hmm. I'm moving in right after the winter holidays."

"That's wicked. You're really lucky," Ron said wistfully.

"Yes, it's strange. On one hand it hasn't sunken in at all for me yet that I won't be living at Hogwarts anymore, but on the other hand I can hardly wait to move."

Ron nodded. "I wish I didn't have to live in the dormitories at school anymore. I was thinking of maybe, after graduation, moving into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes with George and Fred in Diagon Alley…you know, helping them out a bit at the shop until I get my feet on the ground. I still think I want to be an Auror but, I dunno, it'd be fun to work at the joke shop while I sort things out. Plus I know they could always use a third party to bounce new ideas off of, and maybe then they'd finally give their dear brother a discount."

"That…that sounds like a good plan, Ron." Hermione knew that Ron was rambling out of nervousness, but it didn't annoy her as it might have a couple of months ago. If she was honest with herself, she felt quite touched that he'd made the journey all the way to Hogsmeade for her party, however late he had been. And although their conversation didn't feel quite as effortless as it had been before their relationship and subsequent breakup, she was glad to be speaking casually to him again about something other than how badly he'd hurt her.

When Hermione and Ron entered the frilly pink shop, only a few other customers remained. They settled into a two-seater in a secluded corner, and Hermione ordered a small pot of loose-leaf vanilla flavored black tea. Ron ordered nothing for himself, but sat in his seat visibly fidgeting.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Hermione said, cutting to the chase as she poured milk and sugar into her teacup. "We should hurry - I think the shop closes in half an hour, and I really do want to check on Ginny."

"Right. Of course." Ron paused as if trying to gather his thoughts. He looked as though whatever he was holding inside physically pained him. Finally he let out a deep, shaky breath, and said, "Well, first off, I should tell you I'm sorry for not showing up at The Three Broomsticks earlier than I did tonight. I wanted to come from the very beginning, and it was stupid of me to let Lavender keep me from doing it. I should have known that being there for your going-away party was more important than her. Especially since you were good enough to invite me in the first place."

"Okay," Hermione said quietly. There were any number of bitter and sarcastic comments she could have rightfully made, but she held them in. In that moment she didn't even feel angry at Ron, though she had been constantly for months now. She simply sat and listened to him speak.

"Yeah. So there's that. And the other thing…" Ron scratched the back of his head and struggled to keep his eyes on Hermione's. "I know I've said it before, but I really was a complete git with the way I treated you during our breakup. I was a fucking coward - by all rights I should be kicked out of Gryffindor House. It was cowardly the way I didn't tell you when I started having doubts about our relationship, how I stopped writing you and avoided any chance to visit you, and how I didn't tell you when I started dating somebody else. It was a chicken-shit way out of a problem that I didn't know how to suss out.

"I think part of why I was doing it was because I was afraid of hurting you by being honest, but that's no excuse. I ended up hurting you worse than I would have if I'd just told you straight-out. I owed you more than that, after you'd been my best friend for almost seven years. That's why I wanted to apologize to you, for real this time, since I don't think I truly got it until tonight.

"And-" Ron plugged away as though he believed that if he didn't get this out now, he never would. "I was a bloody moron not to see how bad I was making you feel. I mean, I knew you were upset, but I didn't understand why you were as upset as you were. And I get now that I made you feel like weren't interesting enough for me to stick with you, or - or not attractive enough, and all that. I really should have known better, since I've felt like…" Ron gulped. Some things were clearly more difficult than others for him to talk about. "I've felt like I was less than my siblings my entire life. Like I was never as talented or accomplished as any of them, or as…as good-looking, or enough to make anyone see me as worthwhile. And I hate that you felt that way about yourself, and that you felt that way because of _me_. Because, Hermione…you're enough for anybody. You're _more_ than enough."

As he finished his speech, he held her gaze with a face that resembled that of a sad, wounded dog. Part of Hermione wanted to leap up from her chair and tearfully wrap him into a tight hug. But she couldn't give him that just yet.

"What brought this on, Ron?" she said at last.

The red haired boy winced. "Other than missing the hell out of you these past few months? That was the biggest thing. But also…Lavender and I split up tonight. It happened just after I started leaving the castle to come to your party, actually. And it got me thinking about what an idiot I'd been to replace someone like you with someone like her."

"Ah. I see." A whirl of thoughts and emotions swam through Hermione just then, some of which she could not yet identify. Her subsequent silence seemed to worry Ron, who said,

"Well…?"

"Just give me a moment, Ron. I'm trying to figure out how to react to what you've just told me - how I feel about it, and how I _should_ feel about it…"

"O-okay." Ron's voice was a cross between a squeak and a stutter.

"For instance," Hermione said, forcefully stirring her tea, "part of me feels angry, and cautious, that it seems like it took you breaking up with Lavender to appreciate me. As if you wouldn't have ever come to this conclusion if you were still with her. But…you also said that you were already on your way to my party when you broke up with her. So that gives me hope that maybe you've arrived at this - epiphany, or whatever you want to call it, for the right reasons."

"Yeah, I had already decided before I left my dorm that I didn't care what she thought anymore," Ron was quick to clarify. "And I'm not telling you about my breakup with her to make you feel sorry for me. Far from it. So please don't think I'm playing the pity card."

"All right. I appreciate that. And I'm glad that you did decide to come, even though she could have been very angry with you. That does show some courage, and that you care about me."

"I've never stopped caring about you, Hermione. I've been awful at showing it lately, but…I'm trying to be better."

Hermione merely nodded. "Just out of curiosity," she said, "what happened tonight that made you and Lavender call it quits?"

"Oh. _That._" Ron pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. "I caught her having sex with Cormac McLaggen in the Common Room."

Hermione sat back and stared. "_What?! _You've got to be joking." Ron shook his head. "Wow, that's…I'm at a loss for words. I'm sorry, Ron. No one deserves to be cheated on." Her warm brown eyes were full of genuine sympathy, whether Ron was worthy of it or not.

"No, I probably had it coming after all I put you though. But that doesn't mean Lavender isn't a two-faced slag. She didn't trust me enough to hang out with you, even in a group, but apparently it's okay for her to shag someone else," Ron said bitterly.

"Honestly! And why did she cheat out in the open like that? Even if you didn't catch her, someone else might."

Ron waved his hand flippantly. "A few Sickles short of a Galleon, that one. I kind of don't even care why she went about it the way she did. McLaggen can have her. The two of them seem like they deserve each other."

"You're probably right. I still can't believe that she had the audacity to carry on sleeping with both of you at the same time, though!"

He raised one red eyebrow. "Sleeping with _both_ of us? Um, actually - Lavender and I never…" He trailed off with an embarrassed cough.

Hermione's countenance turned dark. "Ronald, don't lie to me. When I agreed to this conversation with you tonight, it was in the hopes that you would be completely honest."

"I _am_ being honest! Hermione, I swear!" cried Ron, who was clearly deeply alarmed by her accusation. "I never slept with Lavender even once!"

"But I heard her say that you did," Hermione protested. "One night about a month and a half ago, Lavender came into our dorm and I overheard her tell Parvati that she'd just lost her virginity, and…_oh._" Her face fell as she recalled exactly what words she'd heard that evening:

_"Guess who lost her virginity tonight!"_

"_No way! With who?"_

"_Oh, c'mon, who do you think?"_

She'd thought that Parvati was just being daft by asking Lavender who she'd had sex with, and Lavender's response had seemed to support this assumption at the time. But now it seemed that Parvati may have had legitimate reasons to wonder.

Ron's face was grim. "Well, it looks like now I can find out the exact date that she started cheating. That is, assuming that they weren't snogging and fooling around first. Who knows how long they may have been sneaking off into the Broom Cupboard to play Seven Minutes In Heaven."

"Oh, Ron, I…" Should she tell him that she had been harboring resentment toward him for the past month and a half due to a misunderstanding? She realized that she had been so very quick to think the worst of her ex-boyfriend. But if she'd stopped and really thought about the words she'd overheard that night, she might have put it all together, or at least been suspicious. She would have been spared a great deal of unnecessary pain.

"If what you're telling me is really true…" she began again.

"It is. I have nothing to gain by lying to you, 'Mione, and even if I did I wouldn't want to. Besides…how many seventeen year old blokes who have had sex would go around claiming that they're still virgins? Isn't it usually the other way around?"

"Well, all right, point taken there," Hermione conceded, almost laughing. "I was going to say - I've been furious at you for weeks because I thought you had just thrown yourself away on Lavender. Which was especially hurtful to me after…well, you know what you and I decided about sex while we were dating." She flushed, embarrassed about bringing up intimate reminiscences from the brief time when she and Ron were a couple. That part of their relationship was supposed to be dead and buried; resurrecting memories made moving on more difficult and painful.

"Yeah, I remember." Ron appeared slightly discomforted as well. "I wouldn't blame you for being mad at me if I had done that. And it makes sense now why you wouldn't even look at me for awhile."

"Well, it wasn't just that I believed you'd had sex with Lavender. She made a comment to Parvati that night that made me think you had slept with other girls even before her. She said, 'he seemed like he knew what he was doing.' Of course, now I realize that she was talking about Cormac, but-"

Ron looked horrified. "_Shit! _You thought that I - I'd cheated on you while we were together, or something?!"

"Not exactly that, no," Hermione said, lowering her gaze. "I guess I assumed it meant that there had been at least one other girl between me and Lavender. I know now how unlikely it is that you'd even have the time to do that, but…I wasn't really thinking, to be quite honest."

"Look, I've done some bad things to you, Hermione," Ron said gravely. "Especially when I got into a new relationship so soon after I broke up with you. There's so much that I wish I could take back. But for what it's worth, I certainly wouldn't - you know, just leap into bed with the first girl who looked my way the moment you and I were over."

_Dammit, don't you cry, Hermione Granger. You've shed enough tears over this boy already… _Remembering how torn up she had been when she believed that Ron had so thoughtlessly betrayed her, coupled with relief that it had never happened after all, truly were enough to put her on the verge of weeping. She waited until she knew her voice would be steady before she said,

"It's worth a lot, actually. Look, Ron, I think I might finally be ready to - to move past all that's happened between us over the past few months, toward forgiveness and another shot at our friendship. But don't think that we'll just go back to normal overnight."

"No, of course not - I get it," Ron said, failing at suppressing the smile that was slowly stretching across his face.

"I hope so. I hope you really do understand that it's still going to take time. Because your coming to my party tonight, and telling me that you finally understand the mistakes you made - it means a lot to me, but it doesn't solve everything. If you're serious about being a better friend from now on, then I want you to keep proving it to me."

"I will," Ron said determinedly. "Honestly, I feel lucky that you'd even consider forgiving me. And I'm glad that we cleared the air about what really happened, or didn't, between me and Lavender."

"Yeah, that's a relief to me too. But all that mess concerning your ex-girlfriend doesn't really have anything to do with my decision to be your friend again."

"But I thought that was a major reason why you were still mad at me." Ron frowned in confusion. "Doesn't it make things better between you and me to know that I didn't sleep with her?"

"It does make things better. But I'm not forgiving you just because you're still a virgin, Ron, or because you aren't dating Lavender anymore," Hermione said bluntly. "I'm forgiving you because - even after all you've put me through - I'd still rather be your friend than not."

This time Ron was the one who looked like he was on the brink of tearing up. "Um, I don't know if this is too much to ask right now, but…"

"What is it?"

"Can I hug you, Hermione?"

For what seemed like a long moment Hermione hesitated, but at last she sighed and opened her arms to him. "All right, you prat."

They rose from their seats at the same time, and with only a little bit of awkwardness they wrapped their arms around each other. Hermione suddenly acknowledged to herself, with a jarring, stark realization, that this was the first time she and Ron had touched each other since the day they'd ridden on the Hogwarts Express back to London six months ago - which was the last time they had been a proper couple. As she embraced Ron now, she felt his body heat radiating through his flannel shirt and she breathed in his old scents, the same scents that she'd smelled in the love potion in Professor Slughorn's class last year. From the time that he had begun to drift away from her at the beginning of summer, this was all she had wanted: for him to hold her like he was holding her right then. And she felt…

Nothing. There was no racing of her heart or getting weak in the knees, as she had felt nearly every time she had hugged or kissed him in the past. Gone also was that sense of total contentment and protectedness that she had experienced during their romantic relationship, when she would lay in his arms in front of the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room. All that remained was the platonic comfort of being reunited with an old, familiar friend.

She paused to wonder at this change. She knew that she had been trying very hard to get over Ron, but she had no idea that already she would feel so little when given the chance to touch him again. Her anger from what he'd done to her had never meant that she didn't still secretly desire him, at least a little bit - until now. Was she lying to herself, or had the part of her that still wanted him as a boyfriend really and truly died?

Suddenly, while resting her chin on his shoulder, her gaze settled onto the clock on the wall of the tea shop. As soon as she realized what time it was, all of her thoughts clicked into one place: Ginny.

"Oh my goodness, it's almost ten o'clock! I really should go," she said as she removed herself from his arms. "I'm so worried about Ginny-"

"I'm sure she's fine. I passed Harry bringing her back to the castle on my way here." Ron's smile faded and his arms fell limply to his side, giving him the odd look of having been deflated by her cutting off their embrace.

"Harry may be perfectly capable of putting her to bed, but he hasn't the foggiest idea how to take care of an intoxicated person. Depending on how much alcohol she had, I might need to brew her a hangover antidote for tomorrow. Thankfully, it's relatively simple and shouldn't take long to brew. Fred and George begged me to make that potion for them almost every Sunday morning in their last year at school…"

"Well, let me walk you back to the castle, at least." He sounded let-down, but nonetheless he chivalrously helped her into her coat and held open the door of the shop for her as they stepped back into the cold darkness. "Can we pick this conversation back up another time? There was, uh, more I wanted to say."

"Sure, we can do that. It'll have to be a time when I'm not busy packing things up and moving, though." Hermione glanced at him curiously, wondering what else on earth he would need to tell her. They'd settled everything, hadn't they? They were going to try to be friends now, and as long as he didn't screw up again nothing more needed to be said.

_Unless…_ An idea entered her mind of another thing he could have possibly wanted to ask her. He'd just told her that she was "more than enough for anybody." Did that mean...? No, that didn't make sense; not when he'd told her several times that he no longer thought about her that way. Besides, that would complicate things far, far too much, and the last thing she needed was more complication in her life.

"This coming month is going to be crazy for me," she went on as they made their way back to Hogwarts. "Ginny's going to help me pack up my things in my dorm, and we're going to take most of it to my flat above Schrivenshaft's. Then I'll spend Christmas with my parents in London, and finally my Mum and Dad will help me move the rest of my things - you know, the stuff I've been keeping at their house these past seven years - to Hogsmeade. It'll be a hassle, but I'm so fortunate that I've got Ginny helping me. She really has been so great to me this school year."

"Yeah…that's good. Well, let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Thank you, but I think I've got it covered. Harry, Luna, and Neville have all offered as well, and I think that's more than enough. I appreciate it, though."

Ron nodded, and was strangely quiet and glum during the rest of their walk to the school grounds. Even when Hermione asked him, "Are you excited about playing in the upcoming Quidditch game? Ginny told me that she thinks Gryffindor will win," he said little in response to her bringing up his favorite sport. At last they reached the castle, and then the Gryffindor Common Room (which had been cleared out of everyone including, thankfully, the post-coital Cormac McLaggen and Lavender Brown). As they stood between the two doors that opened into the boys' and the girls' dormitories, Hermione faced him. She was unsure of exactly what she should say, but she wanted to end their evening on a positive note.

"Goodnight, Ron," she said at last. "Thank you again for trying to come to my party, and…for everything you said tonight."

"You're welcome." This time he gave her a small smile. "I'll see you around, then?"

"Yes. Of course you will." She hugged him again very quickly - _strange, I still feel nothing_ - and turned away before he could try to make the hug go on longer than it should.

Instead of stopping by her own dorm first, Hermione went immediately to the room where the sixth year Gryffindor girls slept. When she knocked on the door it was opened by Ginny's roommate, a girl named Louise with dishwater-blonde hair.

"Hey, sorry to barge in on you like this," Hermione whispered. "I just wanted to make sure that Ginny was here and that she's okay. She got really drunk at The Three Broomsticks tonight, and Harry Potter was supposed to drop her back off at the girls' dormitory."

"He must have," Louise replied. "She stumbled in here about an hour ago and passed out in her bed. I think she's still asleep."

"You didn't check on her?" Hermione tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice. "What if she choked on her own vomit, like - Jimi Hendrix, or something?"

"Who's Jimmy Hendricks?"

"Never mind," Hermione sighed. She had grown up listening to her parents' 1960's and 1970's rock records, and often forgot that most of her classmates at Hogwarts had no idea who Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, the Beatles, and Paul Simon were. "I was going to stay here with her tonight, if that's okay with you and your roommates."

"Fine with me. I'd rather not stay up all night drunk-sitting."

Hermione made her way over to the bed that she knew was Ginny's, and opened the curtains. The red haired girl was still dressed in the same tight sweater, blue jeans and socks that she'd worn at the pub, though her shoes had been kicked off. She was lying on her back with her mouth open, gently snoring. It would have seemed comical if wasn't the result of her getting so mortifyingly drunk earlier.

_Well, at least I know she's alive and breathing,_ Hermione thought. Spotting a tall, empty cup on Ginny's nightstand, she took it to the bathroom that was attached to the dorm, filled the cup with water from the tap, and walked back to Ginny's bed. She felt guilty for needing to rouse the other girl from her sleep, but still she gently shook Ginny's shoulder.

"Hey, Gin, wake up," Hermione whispered. Getting no response, she shook her once more, harder. This time, Ginny's eyes flew open and she bolted upright in a startled daze.

"What the hell?! Oh, 'Ermione, it's you," she said in a still-slurred voice - whether it was slurred from intoxication or sleepiness or both, Hermione could only guess. "What're you doin' here? Why'd you wake me?"

"I'm sorry. I have to make you drink this water," Hermione apologized.

"Don't wanna."

"Please, just drink all of it and I'll let you go back to sleep. It'll make you feel better in the morning."

"What if it makes me vom? I threw up outside when 'Arry was taking me home. Don't wanna do that again."

"I don't blame you, but if you're going to vom it'll be even worse without any water in your stomach to dilute it."

The drunk girl wordlessly shook her head.

"Ginny, I'm only going to ask you one more time," Hermione said, audibly losing her patience. "Please drink the damn water!"

"'Kay, fine. You're worse 'n my mum, 'Ermione." Ginny took the cup, and Hermione watched to make sure she swallowed every last drop. As soon as Ginny had finished she fell back onto her pillows. Hermione took the cup back from her, refilled it, and set it back on the nightstand.

"This water is here for you in case you wake up feeling thirsty - which you probably will, considering how dehydrated you must be. Now, do you want me to get you a pair of your pyjamas? I can't imagine you want to keep sleeping in your denim like that."

But to her amazement, Ginny had closed her eyes and was already snoring again. _Damn, how much Firewhiskey and Butterbeer did she drink? _Hermione wondered. She wished she knew what had incited her friend to get that drunk in the first place, and to say all those strange, vague things. But asking her about that would have to wait until later; for now, she must concentrate on the task of changing Ginny for bed. Hermione cast "_Lumos_" with her wand and rummaged in the darkness through her friend's trunk and wardrobe, but couldn't find anything that remotely resembled clothes that one would sleep in. Where on earth _did_ Ginny keep her pyjamas?

_Oh well, it's not like Ginny_ _cares if she sleeps naked at this point._ Hermione took off her friend's socks so her feet wouldn't get hot, then unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans and pulled those off too, letting Ginny's clothes fall to a heap on the floor next to the bed. Still astounded that none of this was waking the redhead up, she finally peeled off the sweater, revealing a pale pink bra underneath. Although Hermione didn't mind taking off the rest of Ginny's clothes, she couldn't bring herself to unhook and remove the bra. That seemed like it would cross a line, somehow. She rolled Ginny over onto her stomach and gently positioned her face to the side, so that she could breathe easily and there would be no chance of her asphyxiating if she did vomit in her sleep.

At last, she was reasonably sure that Ginny was in the coziest, safest position possible. Since she didn't have any pyjamas of her own with her either, and didn't feel like going back to the seventh year girls' dormitory to retrieve them, Hermione stripped down to her underwear and crawled into the bed next to the other girl. Unlike Ginny, she was topless - there were few things that Hermione felt were more uncomfortable than sleeping with a bra on. And she knew that she could probably trust Ginny not to be weirded out by it when they woke up in the morning.

Before she pulled the quilt over both of them, her eyes lingered for a second over the redhead's body. Ginny possessed a toned, athletic build; the only part of her that didn't appear totally firm from this angle was her round, shapely behind, which was framed quite attractively by the thin cotton bikini-style underpants she was wearing. It wasn't the first time that Hermione had caught herself admiring another woman's figure, but none of those women could hold a candle to Ginny's beauty.

_Wow, Ginny has a really nice bum. - Wait, where did __**that**__ come from?_ Hermione's face flushed hot as she became self-conscious of her own thoughts and the fact that she was staring. It seemed bad enough to ogle one's friend; doing it while that friend was intoxicated and vulnerable was surely worse. Admonishing herself to keep her eyes above Ginny's waist, she snuggled closer to the younger girl and put an arm protectively around her form over the covers. She closed her eyes and went over in her head the ingredients she would put in the hangover antidote that she would probably be brewing for Ginny in the morning.

_Seaweed to restore electrolytes… Feverfew leaves and white willow bark to cure headache… Raw ginger to dispel nausea… _The word "ginger" reminded her of Ginny's hair, and how it was a deeper, even more gorgeous shade of red than Ron's. Hermione had liked Ron's hair during the time that they were flirting and then dating - its earthy smell was one of the scents she had picked up on in Professor Slughorn's love potion last year - but out of all the Weasleys, Ginny surely won out in the hair department. Even in the low light of the moon that streamed through the dormitory windows, her locks took on a lovely sheen.

_You're doing it again,_ Hermione realized suddenly. Why did these thoughts about her friend persist on re-entering her mind, even after this same friend had gotten sloshed and acted so embarrassingly at Hermione's own party? By all rights Hermione should be pissed off at Ginny, but instead she was switching alternately from concern for her friend to fixation on her gorgeousness. _You're just acting like a good friend. And it's not as though you can help that even drunk, she's still so pretty_, she told herself. Nonetheless, Hermione filed away her mental processes from this evening to examine at another time - not just on the topic of Ginny, but on Ron and her response to their interactions at the tea shop. She was in the habit of storing things in the figurative filing cabinet in her mind to sort through later; it was useful to keep her reflections and emotions as organized as her notes from class.

For now, though, she needed sleep. It had been a long, draining night. And shortly her eyelids started to feel heavy and her steady, rhythmic breathing began to match Ginny's own. And for the second time that school year, the two girls remained curled up close together in Ginny's bed until the break of dawn.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Oh, man, finishing this chapter felt like it was going to take forever. Sorry to my readers for waiting longer for this one than you had to wait for the last one. Writing it was definitely harder than I thought it would be - partially because I've been in the situation in which Hermione now finds herself, with an ex-boyfriend asking for forgiveness and wanting to be friends again. So the conversation I wrote between her and Ron brought up a few difficult memories for me. But this fic has helped me to process a lot of my own past experiences, and this chapter was no different.

Also, I've re-uploaded the first three chapters of this fic, and chapter eight, with some edits. Nothing drastic; there were just a few sentences and passages that I think could have been written better, and I'm much happier with them now. Those first three chapters are the oldest part of this story, written ages ago when I was originally planning to pair Hermione up with an entirely different character. Thankfully, I think my writing has improved significantly since.

A last, random aside: for some reason I keep picturing Karen Gillan (a.k.a. Amy Pond from the last couple seasons of _Doctor Who_) as Ginny when I write this fic. Bonnie Wright did a great job portraying Ginny in the _Harry Potter _films, and she grew up to be super cute, but Karen comes closer physically to how I imagine the character. Then I saw a photo online of Karen hanging out with Emma Watson, with the girls standing really close together and practically holding hands. I'm not 100% certain whether it was a real photograph or a very good PhotoShop, but it pretty much sealed the deal for me. They're a gorgeous couple inside my head and I can't wait to start writing actual Hermione/Ginny.

I love my readers and reviewers! Please keep telling me what you think!


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen**

Ginny was aware of how terrible she felt the very second that she woke up. It would have been difficult for her to say which of her symptoms was worst. There was the extreme dehydration, which made her feel as though she had no saliva in her mouth…the throbbing headache in her right temple, intensified by the bright mid-morning sunlight that streamed through her window…the nausea that lurched its way through her stomach all the way up to her throat, giving her the sensation that she would be sick any moment if she moved too much… And to top it all off there was a puddle of drool, the size of a large crumpet, on her pillow from where she had lain her head with her mouth open all night long. So _that _was where her saliva had gone.

She groaned and lifted herself up to flip her pillow over to its dry side, then started, realizing that she wasn't alone in her bed. Lying next to her was the very person who was the reason for Ginny's formerly-drunk, and now hungover, state. Sleeping on her side with a peaceful look on her face, Hermione clutched the pillow like a lover, and her long, tangled brown curls were splayed out around her head like a halo. She looked like an angel, or a wood nymph snoozing on a lily pad; it was a toss-up to say which she resembled more, but regardless she almost made Ginny forget how ill she felt.

And - Ginny's heart skipped a beat - Hermione was naked. Or at least she appeared to be so. The covers had slid halfway down the brunette's torso to expose her bare shoulders, upper back, chest. And the top of one breast, and part of a small, pale pink nipple, was also visible. Instant arousal shot through Ginny's body, and just as quickly she felt a bit guilty at how unquestionably turned-on she was. She had seen Hermione in a two-piece swimsuit before, during at least one summer when Hermione had visited the Burrow and the two girls had taken a dip together in a nearby lake. Even then she had noticed that her friend possessed a fine figure. But _this _was something else all together.

Then Ginny became aware that she, too, was very nearly starkers. She was significantly less so than Hermione, because Ginny still had her bra and panties on. (She couldn't tell if Hermione was wearing underwear, but she wasn't bold enough to lift the covers and find out.) But however you cut it, the fact remained that the two girls were in bed together, more or less unclothed.

Arousal was replaced by confusion, which then gave way to panic. Ginny couldn't clearly recall anything that had happened to her after Harry had dropped her off at her dormitory. All she remembered was a vague sense that Hermione had appeared and woken her up at some point after she'd collapsed in her bed, but this morning it had seemed like that was probably only a dream. Now Ginny was irrefutably awake (never could she have dreamed or imagined a hangover as bad as this one), and Hermione was definitely in bed with her. Had _something_ happened between them two of them…?

Maybe that was possible if Hermione had gotten drunk last night as well. But surely not. The prefect had consumed just one Butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks, and nothing else. A single pint of Butterbeer didn't contain enough alcohol to get someone even slightly buzzed; it was only after at least two that the average adult could expect to feel its affects, which was why Wizarding drinking laws allowed the beverage to be sold to minors. Unless Hermione had changed her mind about drinking that night, and had gotten hammered some time after Ginny had been dragged out of the pub by Harry - which wasn't bloody likely - then she remained as stone-cold sober as always. And Ginny couldn't believe that Hermione, whom she still viewed as a candidate for the hypothetical "Straightest Girl at Hogwarts" Award, would ever do anything sexual with another girl unless she was either under the Imperius curse or wasted out of her brilliant mind.

No, there had to be a reasonable explanation for this, she thought, calming down. And while Ginny probably would have allowed her wand to be snapped in half just for the chance to kiss Hermione, never would she wish to take advantage of someone who was intoxicated, even if she was intoxicated herself at the same time. Besides, what would be the good of having sex with the object of her affection if it was the sloppy, drunken kind of sex that she couldn't even remember?

But until she found out what had transpired, Ginny was content to lay there for a minute or two longer, simply admiring Hermione's loveliness. She could hardly believe that she was even allowed to see her friend like this. How many other people were lucky enough to wake up to their unrequited crush naked in their bed? Knowing that her chances with the girl were still impossibly slim didn't stop Ginny from enjoying this moment.

Just then Hermione made adorable, soft whimpering noises as she stirred in her sleep, and Ginny had to bite down on her lip to keep from audibly swooning. The brunette's eyes fluttered a few times, then opened. Ginny began to panic again as she wondered what in the world she should say.

"Gin?" Hermione murmured as she sat up. She pulled the covers up over her chest. Ginny didn't know if Hermione realized how much of her body she had been revealing, but she thanked whatever deities might be out there that Hermione wasn't freaking out about it.

"Hey…do you feel okay this morning?" yawned Hermione, rubbing her eyes and then making an attempt to smooth down her bushy hair. _Sweet Merlin, even with bedhead and eye bogies she's cute as hell,_ Ginny thought to herself before she responded, squinting in the sunlight,

"No, I'm awful, actually."

"I thought you might be. Hold tight, I'll brew a hangover antidote for you. It should only take about ten minutes or so."

"Wait," Ginny said before Hermione could get up. "Um, what happened, exactly? Why are we…?" She made a sweeping gesture with her hand at their mutual states of undress.

"Oh." Hermione looked embarrassed for the first time that morning. "Well, I had to stay with you through the night in case you got ill or something. I didn't have my pyjamas with me and I couldn't find yours, so I just took your clothes off for you and slept in my underwear. I thought you probably wouldn't mind."

"N-no, of course not." _You have no idea how much I really, really don't mind. _"I was just worried that maybe - maybe I'd vomited all over both of us, or something. You've probably had enough of that lately, considering what happened with you and that Slytherin first year awhile ago."

Hermione let out a small laugh. "No, fortunately for both of us there was none of that last night. Why don't you lie back down and I'll get started on that potion."

Hermione reached down the side of the bed and retrieved the long-sleeved thermal tee shirt she'd worn last night. She pulled it over her head with her back turned to her friend, which briefly gave Ginny yet another nice view - this time of Hermione's entire span of bare back. How was Hermione, who was usually very modest, so nonchalant about being almost naked around her friend? _She must be comfortable around other girls because she's not at all attracted to them_, Ginny thought dolefully. _If she fancied me, she'd be as shy as I am right now._

"Any sign of my roommates out there?" Ginny called out weakly, laying her head back down on the pillow and closing her eyes. Her nausea had abated for the time being, but she wished with all her might that her head would _just. stop. pounding. _

"No, they must have gone to breakfast," Hermione said. "Which is good, because I'll be using my cauldron on the floor. Be right back."

As Ginny lay alone in the bed, her headache-addled mind struggled to comprehend all that had happened to her in the past twelve hours. She'd made an ass of herself at the pub, she knew, and it would be terribly embarrassing when she next ran into the people who had seen her that way. But what may have been worse yet, Harry now had knowledge of her crush on Hermione. Ginny hadn't intended for _anyone_ to know her secret, despite how much she had loudly spilled about how beautiful she thought Hermione was.

Truth be told, though, confessing it to a friend had lifted a weight off of her. Her problems always felt ten times worse inside her head than they felt after she'd talked to someone. And Ginny knew that she could trust Harry with anything. But if he had been able to suss it out, who was to say that it hadn't also been made obvious to everyone who was at The Three Broomsticks last night? What if Hermione managed to figure it out as well? She may not have put it together just yet (she probably wouldn't have slept next to Ginny topless if she had), but eventually she might. She was no dummy, after all. _Well, that's the last time I'll ever drink that much. Clearly it makes me lose the filter between my brain and my mouth,_ Ginny thought grimly.

Before long the door to the dormitory creaked open again. Ginny heard the noises of Hermione setting her heavy cauldron on the stone floor, starting a fire beneath it with _Incendio_, and stirring the boiling ingredients. In what felt like almost no time at all, Hermione was standing at her bedside (dressed in a fresh outfit of clean clothes that she must have retrieved from her own room), holding out a steaming mug of pulpy green liquid.

"Be careful, it's very hot," Hermione instructed. "And…it may not taste great. I used to flavor it with a bit of vanilla extract when I made this for Fred and George, but I didn't have any of that left."

"Don't worry, I'm used to most potions tasting horrible." Ginny swallowed a gulp of the drink. It tasted like boiled leaves and ginger, which wasn't altogether bad, but wasn't pumpkin juice either. The remarkable thing about it was that she began to improve almost at once. Any nausea that she had left was gone, and as she continued to drain the mug, she felt the throbbing in the vein in her temple gradually lessen. She was still incredibly thirsty, though. Seeing a full cup of water on her nightstand, she reached for it and downed its contents in three large gulps.

"Wow, I'm better already," she sighed, laying herself back down. "Thank you so much. That antidote is amazing. You should be a medi-witch, honestly."

"You're welcome, I'm glad it's working. There's lots more left in my cauldron if you need it. And actually…" Hermione sat down on the bed next to Ginny, and a small smile appeared on her face. "Okay, I wasn't going to announce it quite yet, but this is what I didn't tell everyone when Angelina asked me last night if I had a job locked down."

"Oh? Well, don't keep me in suspense."

"Madam Pomfrey has agreed to take me on as an assistant in the Hospital Wing. If I like it and do well, she'll write me a letter of reference so I can apply to school in the Healing Arts. And then if I get in and graduate…who knows. Maybe I'll be able to take over as school nurse when she retires in a few years."

"Hermione, that's fantastic!" Ginny exclaimed, genuinely happy for the first time in days. "Tell me everything! When do you start, how much is she going to pay you…?"

"Well, I start as soon as the students come back from the winter holidays. And as for payment…that's the only thing," Hermione sighed. "She and Dumbledore said that there really is no money for another paid position at Hogwarts right now. I could tell that they felt bad about it, but it's just the truth that the school is under a tight budget currently. They can only take me on as a volunteer, so it's not a proper apprenticeship."

"That's too bad," Ginny frowned. "Do you have any other prospects?"

"Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Scrivenshaft have offered to hire me when they open the book-selling portion of their store. If I work there at least twenty hours a week, it'll cover my entire rent plus a little bit extra. So I'll have some income, but not much. I might still have to take on another part-time job." Hermione looked a bit discouraged as she went on, "I never wanted to work three jobs when I graduated from Hogwarts, but…hopefully this will only be temporary."

"Yeah, I'm sure soon you'll be able to find something you like that's both full-time and pays well enough. It really does suck that you won't get compensated for helping Madam Pomfrey, but this is still great news."

"Thank you. Money or no money, I'm still looking forward to working in the Hospital Wing." Hermione shifted on the bed, and the expression on her face changed. "Hey, Ginny, I…um, wanted to talk to you about something."

Ginny's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. "…Yes?"

"Do you remember anything that you said at The Three Broomsticks last night?"

It was tempting to claim that she'd blacked out and didn't recall anything, but Ginny couldn't bring herself to do that. She cringed and replied, "Er, yeah. I think I remember most of it."

"Well, I'm not going to hold it entirely against you, since it was obvious that you didn't have control over yourself. But…you practically outed Rosmerta and Hooch's relationship in front of the entire pub. I just don't understand why. Drunk or not, I thought you knew better than that."

Being shamed by Hermione Granger felt worse than the hangover. The brunette so rarely spoke critically of anyone; when she did, it was like your own parents expressing disappointment in your actions. Especially because she was almost always right.

"I don't know why I did it," Ginny said, looking away. But that wasn't entirely true; she was self-aware enough to know that it was at least in part because she was jealous of the two women for being out of the closet and in a committed relationship with the person they each loved. "I do feel bad about it. But at the same time, I don't think it did any real harm. Pretty much everyone knows they're gay, they don't exactly make a secret of the fact-"

"But that's the point - _they_ don't make a secret of it. _They_ choose who gets to know, and who doesn't. It's not your place to spread that information around," Hermione said, gently but firmly. "Do you really believe that they tell every single patron that they're lesbians? There are still plenty of people around who are prejudiced about that kind of thing. What if the wrong person heard, and it resulted in the pub getting vandalized, or Rosmerta and Hooch being attacked?"

"I…" Ginny felt as though her eyes had been opened, and it was a rude awakening indeed. How could she not have realized what she was doing? Perhaps because of the compassionate and accepting family she had been raised in, it was easy for her to forget that many others weren't as tolerant. "I couldn't live with myself if that happened because of what I said," she admitted. "You're absolutely right. I need to apologize to Rosmerta and Hooch. There are loads of people I need to apologize to…you being among them."

"You mean about last night? Gin, don't even worry about it," Hermione said, her face softening. "It happens to the best of us-"

"No, it doesn't. It was inexcusable. Harry gave me a talking-to that made me realize that last night was supposed to about you, and I made it about me by acting like a loud, drunk idiot. It was especially stupid of me to ruin it, considering that I organized the get-together in the first place. I really am sorry, Hermione."

"You didn't ruin it. Honest. But thanks for saying that, even still." Hermione reached out and pulled Ginny into a tight embrace. The redhead relished a moment in the feel of Hermione's arms against her bare skin. Being touched by Hermione Granger in any fashion never got old.

Pulling away reluctantly from the hug, Ginny sighed heavily and swung her legs over the bed. "Well, I'm going to take a shower and then head out to The Three Broomsticks. Best to apologize to Hooch and Rosmerta as soon as possible, you know? I hate to wonder what they must think of me right now."

As Ginny reached for her towel, Hermione said from her perch on the bed, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Ginny considered for a moment. Any other time, she would've loved to have Hermione accompany her for moral support. But she had a feeling that it might be prudent to go it alone. Once she asked forgiveness of the couple for outing them as lesbians, it was very possible that her own interest in girls - and in one girl in particular - might become a topic of discussion. The barmaid and the flying instructor would be good people to vent to about that, but she certainly didn't want Hermione there for that conversation.

"I really appreciate it, 'Mione. But I think that this is something I need to do on my own," Ginny said softly.

Hermione nodded. "I understand. Let me know how it goes, even though I'm sure they'll forgive you easily. Rosmerta and Hooch are good people."

"Yeah, they definitely are. Anyway, I'll meet up with you back here when I'm done in Hogsmeade. And then, if you want, I'll help you pack up some of the stuff in your dorm," Ginny offered, thinking that she needed to make up for last night's behavior to Hermione _somehow_. "This weekend seems like a good time to start moving the bulk of your things into your new flat."

"That sounds great. Thanks, Ginny." The sweetest of grins crossed Hermione's face, and Ginny's heart melted. Even if her love for Hermione seemed doomed to remain unrequited for the rest of their days, the upside was that at least their friendship was still going strong.

The girls hugged once more, and went separate ways - Hermione for breakfast at The Great Hall, and Ginny for the washroom. It wasn't until Ginny stepped out of the shower that it dawned on her that she had never asked Hermione what Ron had said to her the night before.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** The more I write this story, the more fun it becomes, even when the process is slow and feels like running a marathon. I'm so glad I returned to it after the several long hiatuses I took. Let me know in a review if the story is still fun for you...I love both compliments AND constructive criticism!

The next chapter will pick up immediately where this one left off. I didn't initially plan for Chapters 11 through 15 to all take place within the same 24-hour time period, but it has turned out to be a very important day for Hermione, Ginny, and Ron.

Also, I would like to have your input: do you think that Harry was too rough with Ginny at the end of Chapter 11? No one's said anything to me about it, but when I read that passage again I wondered if I made him seem too aggressive when he hauls her out of the pub and confronts her. I want him to come off as assertively trying to get at the bottom of things, not pushy or violent. If you have an opinion on whether I should tweak that passage or leave it alone, please let me know.


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